WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3156/97 by Esko SEPPÄNEN to the Commission. Inadequacy of EU environmental standards; final destination of untreated waste water from EU buildings
Date: 1997-10-13
Institutions: European Parliament, SEPPAENEN
Subjects: Belgium, Brussels region, European Commission, North Sea, application of EU law, marine pollution, urban area, wastewater, water treatment, watercourse

30. 4. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 134/99

(98/C 134/126)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3154/97

by Mark Watts (PSE) to the Commission

(13 October 1997)

Subject: Genetically modified rape seed

Can the Commission please indicate the latest position regarding experiments in genetically modified rape seed
and when and where the results of these experiments will be made available to the general public?

Answer given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission

(12 November 1997)

Under  Directive  90/220/EEC  on  the  deliberate  release  into  the  environment  of  genetically  modified
organisms (1), a consent is required before research and development releases of genetically modified plants can
proceed. The operation of the consent system for these releases is undertaken at the Member State level by a
competent authority appointed under the Directive. The Commission is not involved in this process, but is kept
informed by the competent authority by way of a summary of each notification which it also circulates to all
other Member States. The Commission has to the end of September 1997, been informed of 251 such releases
from  Belgium,  Denmark,  Germany,  Spain,  France,  Netherlands,  Finland,  Sweden  and  United  Kingdom,
involving oilseed rape.

Notifiers undertaking releases are required, under Article 8 of the Directive, to send to the competent authority
the result of the release in respect of any risk to human health and the environment. There is no requirement in the
Directive  for  Member  States  to  make  these  reports  available  to  the  general  public.  Some  Member  States,
including the United Kingdom, do make such reports available to the public through nominated enquiry points.
Members of the public wishing to obtain information on the results of the releases of oilseed rape, in respect of
risks to human health and the environment, would have to request the information from the relevant contact point
in the Member State concerned, a list of which is sent directly to the Honourable Member and to Parliament(cid:146)s
Secretariat.

(1)  OJ L 117, 8.5.1990.

(98/C 134/127)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3156/97

by Esko Seppa¤nen (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(13 October 1997)

Subject: Inadequacy  of  EU  environmental  standards;  final  destination  of  untreated  waste  water  from  EU

buildings

The EU(cid:146)s environmental standards are inadequate. It is intolerable that the waste water of the city of Brussels, for
example, can flow untreated into the river and thence into the sea.

Is the Commission aware of these problems and does it plan any measures to reduce the polluting effect on the
North Sea of, inter alia, the waste water from EU buildings?

Answer given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission

(13 November 1997)

Council Directive 91/271/EEC of 21 May 1991 concerning urban waste-water treatment (1)  requires  Member
States  to  introduce  a  system  of  collection  and  treatment  of  urban  waste  water  in  all  agglomerations  with  a
population equivalent (p.e.) of more than 2 000 (the population equivalent is a unit of measurement frequently
used to measure the level of pollution in waste water; it is the organic load from any one person in a day). The
final  date  for  introducing  these  facilities  is  31  December  1998,  31  December  2000  or  31  December  2005,
depending on the size of the agglomeration and the sensitivity of the aquatic environment into which the waste
water is discharged after treatment.