WRITTEN QUESTION E-2185/01 by Pere Esteve (ELDR) to the Commission. EU Blue Flag operation.
Date: 2001-07-23
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU environmental policy, bathing water, coastal protection, environmental law, environmental standard, non-governmental organisation

C 81 E/128

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

4.4.2002

(2002/C 81 E/152)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2185/01

by Pere Esteve (ELDR) to the Commission

(23 July 2001)

Subject: EU Blue Flag operation

One of the general measures employed by the Union to protect its seas is the (cid:145)Blue Flag(cid:146) operation,
coordinated by the Environmental Education Foundation and supported by the Commission, in which
beaches and ports are awarded the Commission quality label if they satisfy certain criteria.

The Commission is to be applauded for its efforts to protect the environment and in particular to preserve
beaches and ports. Furthermore, many beaches have benefited from improvements in safety, information,
and so forth. However, as far as the Blue Flag operation is concerned, the criteria required can sometimes
produce the opposite of the desired effects from the point of view of environmental protection.

The operation has thus acted as an incentive for:

(cid:129) facilities to be built on beaches, in many cases affecting the natural environment,

(cid:129) showers to be installed on beaches, and

(cid:129) seaweed to be cleared away.

In the light of the foregoing:

(cid:129) Is the Commission aware of the above facts?

(cid:129) Has it made any plans to alter the criteria on which the operation is based, by moving away from the

current bias towards tourism towards criteria aimed more specifically at protecting beaches?

(cid:129) Will it attempt to relate the criteria governing the operation to the environment in which a beach is

situated, for example a protected nature reserve, an urban area, etc.?

Answer given by Mrs Wallstr(cid:246)m on behalf of the Commission

(12 October 2001)

The Blue Flag Campaign is not a Commission initiative.
It is an initiative by the non-governmental
organisation (NGO) named Federation for Environmental Education in Europe (FEEE), based in
Copenhagen (Denmark). In the past, the Commission participated in the work of the jury of FEEE. Until
1998, FEEE also received financial support from the Commission.

FEEE uses for its award of (cid:145)Blue Flags(cid:146) a range of criteria, one of them being compliance with the Bathing
Water Directive (1).

The Bathing Water Directive has indeed achieved an enormous improvement of bathing water quality in
Europe. However, it dates from 1976 and therefore reflects the state of knowledge and experience of the
early 1970s. This is why the Commission has started work on a revision of the Bathing Water Directive.
To this aim the Commission published in December 2000 a Communication on a New Bathing Water
Policy (2). It recommends for the new directive the concept of improved beach management, carried out by
the responsible authority. A beach profile made up by the local authorities will not only provide
information on pollution sources, but can be used for long-term planning for preservation or beach
improvement programmes.

4.4.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 81 E/129

The Coordinates of FEEE are: The Blue Flag Co-ordination, FEEE, c/o The Danish Outdoor Council,
Scandiagade 13, DK-2450 Copenhagen SV, Denmark, Tel. +45 33 79 00 79, Fax +45 33 79 01 79;
e-mail: bf.int@friluftsraadet.dk; Internet: http://www.blueflag.org/.

(1) Council Directive 76/160/EEC of 8 December 1975 concerning the quality of bathing water, OJ L 31, 5.2.1976.
(2) Communication from the Commission to the Parliament and the Council, Developing a New Bathing Water Policy

COM(2000) 860 final.

(2002/C 81 E/153)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2197/01

by Mark Watts (PSE) to the Commission

(23 July 2001)

Subject: Transport of animals in Italy

The Commission has recently published a report on a mission to Italy in November 2000. This report
exposes widespread breaches of Community animal protection laws by transporters importing animals into
Italy or transporting them through Italy to Greece or third countries. It also indicates a poor level of
enforcement by Italy of Council Directive 91/628 (1). Problems include the transport of animals with
chronic injuries over long distances, journeys that exceed the maximum permitted journey times, Italian
officials failing to require animals imported from third countries to be given 24 hours(cid:146) rest at the border,
and the use for long journeys of vehicles that fail to comply with the standards required by law for
journeys of over eight hours.

What steps is the Commission taking to persuade Italy to enforce Community laws on the protection of
animals during transport properly?

(1) OJ L 340, 11.12.1991, p. 17.

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(25 September 2001)

The Commission, on the basis of evidence obtained during earlier missions of the Food and Veterinary
Office (FVO) and certain information provided by animal welfare societies,
the
implementation and enforcement of Community law concerning the protection of transported animals in
Italy has been inadequate. The Commission has intervened on a number of occasions with the Italian
authorities about the matter and received assurances from the Italian government that various steps had
been taken to improve the situation.

is aware that

However, although Italy claimed to have taken certain actions to rectify deficiencies noted in previous FVO
reports the recent Commission inspection report mentioned by the Honourable Member concluded that
serious deficiencies in implementation and enforcement of Council Directives 91/628/EEC as amended by
Directive 95/29/EC (1) remained.

In the light of these deficiencies the Commission will adopt a decision on the matter of infringement
proceedings in the near future.

(1) OJ L 148, 30.6.1995.