WRITTEN QUESTION E-2678/03 by Caroline Jackson (PPE-DE) to the Commission. 1991 Nitrates Directive.
Date: 2003-09-10
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: chemical salt, environmental standard, pollution control, pollution from agricultural sources, quality standard, water pollution, water protection

C 78 E/150

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

27.3.2004

However, this approach has not been retained, and the final Directive does not include such a monitoring
Committee. This makes the continuation of the support role of JRC to DG ENTR inappropriate in this
matter. There will be feasibility studies to prepare the implementation of phase 2 and verify whether the
EEVC criteria can be really fulfilled and in economically viable conditions, but the ELSA team has not the
technical skills to do such work, since it requires long experience in car body design.

The phasing out of the transport safety activity in ELSA will
in fact result mainly in the closure of
automotive industry research at the Large Dynamic Test Facility, a bench for characterisation of materials
and structural components at ‘high deformation speed’. This test facility had been created in the context of
nuclear safety studies and is relevant for transport safety studies, but it has, however, remained very much
underused. There are of course other European laboratories equipped to do testing for automotive industry
research.

From the above, the Honourable Member should be reassured that there is no logic of dismantlement of
the JRC, on the contrary of reinforcement in key areas of relevance to Community policy support.

(1) COM(2001) 370 final.
(2) COM(2003) 67 final.

(2004/C 78 E/0155)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2678/03

by Caroline Jackson (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(10 September 2003)

Subject: 1991 Nitrates Directive

It is being argued that the 50 milligrammes per litre maximum level for nitrates in water in the 1991
Nitrates Directive (91/676/EEC (1)) is out of date and that, for health reasons, the nitrates in water should
actually exceed that limit. Does the Commission have any observation to make on this claim, and is it
planning in any way to amend the Nitrates Directive which is still far from being fully implemented in
many Member States?

(1) OJ L 375, 31.12.1991, p. 1.

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(16 October 2003)

The Commission disagrees with the position that the standard of 50 milligram (mg) per litre of nitrates set
by the Nitrates Directive (1), which is one of the criteria to identify vulnerable zones, is out of date and that
for health reasons, nitrates in water should exceed that limit.

The recent revision of Council Directive 80/778/EEC of 15 July 1980 on the quality of water intended for
human consumption (2), Council Directive 98/83/EC of 3 November 1998 (3), which reviewed the
parametric values in accordance with the latest available scientific knowledge (e.g. World Health
Organisation (WHO) Guidelines, Scientific Committee on Toxicology and Ecotoxicology), confirmed for
nitrates the previous limit value of 50 mg per litre.

The precautionary value of 50 mg per litre is essential to prevent health effects, such as methaemoglobi-
naemia in infants. This disease, linked to high nitrate levels in drinking water, still exists both in Eastern
Europe (hundreds of cases) and in the United States, and the relatively low incidence in the countries of
Western Europe is in relation to the enforcement of strict limit values on nitrates over the last 20 years.

27.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 78 E/151

The Commission is not planning to propose amendments to the Nitrates Directive at present, as it is
convinced that its full implementation is crucial to reduce the impact of nutrients from agricultural sources
on European waters. More than 20 % of European groundwaters are facing excessive nitrate concentrations
and at least 30-40 % of rivers and lakes show eutrophication symptoms or bring high nitrogen fluxes to
coastal waters and seas: it is estimated that agriculture is responsible for 50 to 80 % of the nitrogen input
to European waters (4).

In this context the Commission is fully committed to ensure that the Nitrates Directives, aimed at reducing
and preventing the pollution from agricultural sources, is correctly implemented in the Member States with
a set of actions, first of all putting legal pressure through infringement procedures towards the Member
States which do not implement the different steps of the Directive.

Significant efforts are also devoted by the Commission to support a better knowledge on pressures and
environmental status of European waters through regular monitoring and reporting exercises, and to
promote the exchange of technical information between the Member States on agricultural practices and
their impact on nutrient losses and on tools for measuring, modelling and forecasting their impact on
water quality.

(1) Council Directive 91/676/EEC of 12 December 1991 concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused

by nitrates from agricultural sources.

(2) OJ L 229, 30.8.1980.
(3) OJ L 440, 5.12.1998.
(4)

Implementation of Council directive 91/676/EEC concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by
nitrates from agricultural sources. Synthesis from year 2000 Member States reports, p.43.

(2004/C 78 E/0156)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2691/03

by Herbert Bösch (PSE) to the Commission

(2 September 2003)

Subject: EURES expenditure

EURES is an information network which is intended to promote the cross-border mobility of workers. The
accession of the new Member States means that EURES will gain in importance. Efficient use of the EU
funds provided is a crucial element in ensuring the success of European public employment services.

Can the Commission indicate:

(cid:1) the level of

the (maximum) amounts of support

for cross-border partnerships applied for and

approved in 2003, and

(cid:1) how the expenditure in the overall EURES budget for 2003 is broken down (breakdown by type of

expenditure), and who the recipients of EURES funding are?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(19 September 2003)

Supporting the co-operation between the labour market actors at cross-border level (involving public
employment services, the social partners and others) is an important element of the EURES Decision
adopted by the Commission in December 2003 (1). The Commission shares the view that the financial
means at the disposal of EURES should be used in the most efficient manner possible (cid:1) each relevant
request for support is examined with rigour to ensure good value for money.