Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the protection of groundwater against pollution
Date: 2004-02-11
Institutions: European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: EU environmental policy, groundwater, pollution control measures, water protection

30.4.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 109/29

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the ‘proposal for a directive of the European Parlia-
ment and of the Council on the protection of groundwater against pollution’

(2004/C 109/06)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

Having regard to the EU Commission's Proposal for Directive of the European Parliament and of the
Council on the Protection of groundwater against pollution (COM(2003) 550 final – 2003/0210 (COD));

Having regard to the decision of the Council of 3 October 2003 to consult it on this subject, under Article
175(1) of the Treaty establishing the European Community;

Having regard to the decision of its Bureau of 19 June 2003 to instruct its Commission for Sustainable
Development to draw up an opinion on this subject;

Having regard to its opinion on the EU Commission's Proposal for a Council directive establishing a frame-
work for Community action in the field of water policy CdR 171/97 fin (1);

Having regard to Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October
2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy;

Having regard to its opinion on the Communication from the Commission on the sixth environment
action programme of the European Community ‘Environment 2000: Our future, our choice’ – The Sixth
Environment Action Programme and the Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the
Council laying down the Community Environment Action Programme 2001-2010 CdR 36/2001 fin (2).

Having regard to its draft opinion (CdR 240/2003 rev. 1) adopted on 12 December 2003 by the Commis-
sion for Sustainable Development (rapporteur: Mr Johannes Flensted-Jensen, Chairman of Århus County
Council (DK, PES);

Whereas:

1)

2)

3)

Groundwater is a resource that is both important and at risk, and one which is of great importance
to the quality of the environment in a number of wetlands and nature areas on land, for industrial
and agricultural production and as a source of drinking water;

Protecting the quantity and quality of groundwater should therefore be a major political priority at
both European and national
level, and common European initiatives are necessary in order to
harmonise rules in this area as much as possible, bearing in mind the major natural differences to
be seen throughout groundwater areas in Europe;

Matters concerning the quantity of groundwater are dealt with in the Water Framework Directive,
which is why the Groundwater Directive focuses on the quality of groundwater,

adopted the following opinion at its 53rd plenary session, held on 11 and 12 February 2004 (meeting of
11 February)

(1) OJ C 180, 11.6.1998, p. 38
(2) OJ C 357, 14.12.2001, p. 44

C 109/30

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

30.4.2004

1. The Committee of the Regions' views

The Committee of the Regions

considers that the EU Commission's proposal for a new
1.1
groundwater directive and the Water Framework Directive
(WFD), which is the mother directive, expresses a reasonable
and responsible strategy both as regards the environment and
the economy as a whole, with the emphasis on preventing
pollution and restoring the environment;

1.2
welcomes the proposal for a new groundwater directive
and considers it to be a good supplement to the WFD's provi-
sions concerning groundwater;

1.3
approves the fact that the proposal does not contain a
comprehensive list of common European standards in the form
of limit values for the amount of various pollutants in ground-
water, but merely includes limit values in pursuance of Com-
munity legislation that has already been approved,
including
the Nitrates Directive and the Plant Protection and Biocidal
Products Directives;

1.4
notes with satisfaction that, instead of common Euro-
pean quality standards, the Member States are to draw up
threshold values for relevant groundwater pollutants – both
those occurring naturally and those resulting from human
activity – on the basis of criteria in the directive;

1.5
supports the directive containing a minimum list of
substances for which the Member States are to draw up
threshold values;

1.6
considers it reasonable that the EU Commission should
subsequently, in the light of the Member State's reports, be able
to adopt a position on whether there is a basis for proposing
common European quality standards leading to a further
harmonisation of rules in this field;

assumes that

1.7
the Regions will be
the Committee of
consulted on any amendments to Annex I of the directive,
which contains common European quality standards;

1.8
considers it necessary that common European standards
– both now and in the future – may be made more rigorous in
Member States in order to protect surface water;

groundwater bodies

1.9
wishes, moreover, to emphasise that, when grouping
and designing monitoring
together
networks, it is necessary for the Member States to ensure that
the comparison of groundwater quality is made with a homo-
genous material, e.g. comparable redox ratio or comparable
geological conditions.

2. The Committee of the Regions' recommendations

2.1
recommends that it should be evident from the ground-
water directive that river basin district authorities are able to
impose more rigorous national threshold values if this is neces-
sary in order to comply with the WFD's environmental quality
objectives in the river basin districts concerned;

2.2
recommends that where the background levels of natu-
rally occurring substances in groundwater are not known,
background levels should be laid down in accordance with the
best professional opinion until monitoring data is produced. In
some cases it will still hardly be possible to find natural back-
ground levels;

that

recommends

2.3
that
comparable monitoring points are used when identifying signif-
icant and sustained upward trends in bodies of groundwater or
groups of bodies;

the Member States

ensure

recommends

2.4
that phosphorus be included on the
minimum list in part A.1 of Annex III to the proposed direc-
tive, as this is a substance that in the long term threatens the
chemical quality of groundwater;

2.5
recommends that insofar as old contaminated industrial
sites cannot be cleaned up in a balanced way under Article 4(4)
and (5) of the Water Framework Directive, these provisions
should be amended at the first opportunity. At the same time,
consideration should be given to reintroducing the concept of
Risk Management Zones into water management plans for
catchment areas; this concept takes account of the environ-
mental and economic aspects, as well as of practical feasibility;

2.6
recommends that it be made quite clear in Article 4(3)
of the groundwater directive which committee is to be asked
for an opinion before any amendments are made to Annex I;

recommends that

the Committee of

2.7
the Regions be
consulted to the fullest possible extent over future amendments
to the groundwater directive, including significant adjustments
to Annexes II to IV, as the regional and local authorities often
have extensive technical and administrative experience on
groundwater matters, and that the Member States be called
upon to make use of such experience in further work to do
with the directive;

2.8
recognises that the proposed directive, as part of the
Water Framework Directive, will have serious financial implica-
tions for Member States and urges that the new and existing
financial schemes must address the economic burden the
Member States will bear when fulfilling the environmental
objectives of the Water Framework Directive;

The Committee of the Regions

2.9

proposes, therefore, the following concrete amendments:

30.4.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 109/31

Recommendation 2.1

Article 4(1)

Commission draft proposal

Proposed CoR amendment

1. On the basis of

the characterisation process to be
carried out under Article 5 of Directive 2000/60/EC
and under sections 2.1 and 2.2 of Annex II thereto, in
accordance with the procedure described in Annex II to
this Directive, and taking account of the economic and
social costs, Member States shall, by 22 December
2005, establish threshold values for each of the pollu-
tants, which within their territory have been identified
as contributing to the characterisation of bodies or
group of bodies of groundwater as being at risk.
Member States shall as a minimum establish threshold
values for the pollutants referred to in parts A.1 and
A.2 of Annex III to this Directive. These threshold
inter alia be used for the purposes of
values shall
status as
carrying out
provided for in Article 5.2 of Directive 2000/60/EC.

the review of groundwater

1. On the basis of

the characterisation process to be
carried out under Article 5 of Directive 2000/60/EC
and under sections 2.1 and 2.2 of Annex II thereto, in
accordance with the procedure described in Annex II to
this Directive, and taking account of the economic and
social costs, Member States shall, by 22 December
2005, establish threshold values for each of the pollu-
tants, which within their territory have been identified
as contributing to the characterisation of bodies or
risk.
group of bodies of groundwater as being at
Member States shall as a minimum establish threshold
values for the pollutants referred to in parts A.1 and
A.2 of Annex III to this Directive. These threshold
inter alia be used for the purposes of
values shall
status as
carrying out
provided for in Article 5.2 of Directive 2000/60/EC.

the review of groundwater

Those threshold values can be established at
the
national level, at the level of the river basin district or
at the level of body or group of bodies of groundwater.

Those threshold values can be established at
the
national level, at the level of the river basin district or
at the level of body or group of bodies of groundwater.

Should the Member States choose to lay down national
threshold values, these may be made more rigorous by
the river basin district authorities if such action is
necessary in order to comply with the Water Frame-
work Directive's environmental quality objectives in the
river basin districts concerned.

Reason

If the Member States choose to lay down national threshold values, the river basin district authorities
should have the power to impose more rigorous values in vulnerable regional and local areas in the river
basin districts concerned if such action is necessary in order to comply with environmental quality objec-
tives. Such reasoning is consistent with that in the Water Framework Directive and could beneficially be
transferred to the text of the proposed groundwater directive.

Recommendation 2.2

Annex III, part B.2.2

Commission draft proposal

Proposed CoR amendment

2.2 The relationship between the threshold values and, in
the

case of naturally occurring substances,

the
observed background levels.

2.2 The relationship between the threshold values and, in
the
the
case of naturally occurring substances,
observed background levels. Where the background
levels of naturally occurring substances in ground-
water are not known, background levels shall be laid
down in accordance with the best professional
opinion.

Reason

In some cases the background level will not be known until after a long period of monitoring – for some
groups of groundwater bodies it may also be difficult to find bodies where the natural background level
can be measured. In both cases it will be necessary to establish background levels on the basis of skilled
professional opinion.

C 109/32

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

30.4.2004

Recommendation 2.3

Annex IV, 1.2(a)

Commission draft proposal

Proposed CoR amendment

a)

the assessment shall be based on arithmetic mean
values of the mean values of the individual monitoring
points in each bodies or groups of bodies of ground-
water bodies, as calculated on the basis of a quarterly, a
half-yearly or an annual monitoring frequency. (sic)

a) the assessment shall be based on arithmetic mean
values of the mean values of the individual monitoring
points in each bodies or groups of bodies of ground-
water bodies, as calculated on the basis of a quarterly, a
It is
half-yearly or an annual monitoring frequency.
necessary to ensure here that the monitoring points are
comparable.

There are big differences in the natural chemical composition of groundwater, both within a single ground-
water body and between different bodies. For instance, there is a chemical difference between the upper
and lower groundwater in a body. So, for an assessment to be a true one, the monitoring points should be
comparable as regards geology or the redox ratio, for example.

Reason

Recommendation 2.4

Annex III, part A.1

Commission draft proposal

Proposed CoR amendment

Ammonium

Arsenic

Cadmium

Chloride

Lead

Mercury

Sulphate

Ammonium
Arsenic
Cadmium
Chloride
Lead
Mercury
Sulphate
Phosphorus

Reason

Phosphorus is a substance that obviously threatens the chemical quality of groundwater.

Brussels, 11 February 2004.

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Peter STRAUB