Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 251 (2) of the EC Treaty concerning the common position of the Council on the adoption of a European Parliament and Council Directive concerning the quality of bathing waters
Date: 2005-01-04
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: bathing water, health policy, quality of the environment, quality standard, water analysis

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 4.1.2005 
COM(2004) 846 final 

2002/0254 (COD) 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 251 (2) of the EC Treaty 

concerning the 

common position of the Council on the adoption of a European Parliament and Council 
Directive concerning the quality of bathing waters 

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2002/0254 (COD) 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 251 (2) of the EC Treaty 

concerning the 

common position of the Council on the adoption of a European Parliament and Council 
Directive concerning the quality of bathing waters 

1. 

PROCEDURE 

The proposal COM(2002) 581 final was transmitted to the European Parliament and 
the Council in accordance with the co-decision procedure provided for in Article 175 
(1) of the EC Treaty. 

The European Economic and social Committee gave its opinion on 19th June 2003. 

The Committee of the Regions gave its opinion on 9th April 2003. 

The European Parliament gave its opinion at first reading on 21st October 2003. 

Following the opinion of the European Parliament and pursuant to Article 250(2) of 
the EC Treaty, the Commission adopted an amended proposal COM (2004) 245 final 
on 5th April 2004. 

Following the opinion of the European Parliament and pursuant to Article 250(2) of 
the  EC  Treaty,  the  Council  reached  political  agreement  on  a  Common  Position  on 
28th June 2004. The Council adopted by unanimity the Common position formally on 
20th December 2004. 

2. 

2. PURPOSE OF THE COMMISSION PROPOSAL 

The  Commission  proposal  was  intended  to  replace  the  existing  bathing  water 
directive which was adopted  in  1976.  That directive, while been very successful in 
promoting  higher  standards  of  bathing  water  is  considered  to  be  outmoded  and  to 
represent  the  state  of  technical  and  scientific  knowledge  in  the  mid-70s.  The 
Commission’s  proposal  increased  the  severity  of  the  mandatory  microbiological 
standards  for  Community  bathing  waters  and  updated  the  management  and 
monitoring regime. 

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3. 

COMMISSION COMMENTS 

3.1. 

General Comments 

The  Commission  accepted  totally,  in  part  or  in  principle  22  of  the  37  amendments 
proposed by the European Parliament in the first reading. 17 of these 22 amendments 
are incorporated in the common position.  

The Commission accepted all amendments which led to greater clarity, improved the 
information given to the public or which improved the effectiveness of management. 

The  Commission  rejected,  in  particular,  amendments  which  increased  the  scope  of 
the directive or which would have resulted in duplication with the Water Framework 
Directive. 

3.2. 

Detailed Comments 

3.2.1.  Parliamentary Amendments accepted by the Commission and incorporated in full or 

in part in the common position. 

The  following  amendments  which  were  accepted  in  whole  or  in  part  by  the 
Commission are also to be found in the common position: Amendments number 10, 
11, 15, 17, 18, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 32, 34, 35, 52 and 57. 

3.2.2.  Parliamentary  Amendments  accepted  by  the  Commission  but  not  in  the  common 

position. 

Amendment 6 concerns a clarification of part of the definition of a “bathing water “: 
with  the  new  drafting  of  Article  1  and  Article  2  in  the  common  position  the 
amendment is no longer appropriate. 

Amendment  29  concerns the modification of the  methods  of  analysis  referred  to  in 
Annex  I.  The  amendment  appears  to  make  modification  of  the  test  procedures  an 
obligation  rather  than  a  discretionary  act  based  on  the  assessment  of  need.  The 
Commission accepts the wish of the Member States to retain the word “may” rather 
than replacing it with “shall” as requested by the Parliament.  

Amendment  30  concerns  a  commitment  to  introduce  parameters  relating  to  viruses 
which are important microbiological contaminants but for which robust test methods 
are not yet available. The Commission was happy to accept this amendment and in 
facthas  already  initiated  a  research  project  to  develop  robust  test  procedures  for 
detecting and measuring the levels of the relevant viruses in water. On the basis of 
the  results  from  this  project,  the  Commission  will  make  appropriate  proposals.  A 
commitment to introduce parameters for viruses into the directive is not part of the 
common position but with its right of initiative the Commission is free to introduce 
such proposals at any time.  

Amendment 31 concerns the introduction of an assessment criterion “negative results 
on  test”  in  Annex  1  of  the  Commission’s  original  proposal  in  relation  to 
phytoplankton blooms. As this parameter is no longer in the table, the amendment is 
redundant. 

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Amendment  75  concerns  calculative  methods  to  address  the  problem  of  spoiled 
samples.  However,  with  the  provisions  for  the  discard  of  samples  now  introduced 
into Annex II such procedures are no longer appropriate. 

3.2.3.  Parliamentary  Amendments  rejected  by  the  Commission  but  part  of  the  common 

position. 

Amendment 54 concerns the possibility to change a planned sampling date by plus or 
minus  four  days.  In  the  context  of  the  global  package  of  the  common  position,  the 
Commission can accept this additional flexibility.  

3.2.4.  Additional Changes made to the Proposal by the Council 

The common position contains a significant number of changes as compared to the 
Commission’s  original  proposal.  In  presentational  terms  the  text  has  been 
streamlined with several of the Articles in the original text being merged. However, 
all of the essential elements in the Commission’s original proposal are retained. 

In  terms  of  the  substance,  the  most  important  changes  in  the  common  position  as 
compared  to  the  original  proposal  are  concerned  with  the  assessment  and 
classification of bathing water quality as provided for in Article 4 and Annexes I and 
II of the common position. 

Classification  Criteria:  The  common  position  introduces  a  fourth  classification 
category “satisfactory” which becomes the mandatory standard which Member States 
have  to  achieve.  This  standard  is  based  on  a  90  percentile  value  rather  than  a  95 
percentile.  The  level  of  protection  afforded  by  the  quality  standard  associated  with 
the  classification  “satisfactory”  is  not  as  high  as  that  represented  by  the  “good” 
classification in the Commission’s original proposal. 

Freshwater Standards: The common position establishes different quality standards 
for freshwater and coastal waters. The Commission’s original proposal established a 
set of standards for all bathing waters.  

Deadline  for  the  Achievement  of  Standards:  The  common  position  foresees  that 
the mandatory standards (the classification “satisfactory”) be achieved by 2015 at the 
latest.  The  Commission’s  original  proposal  required  compliance  with  the  “good” 
classification by approximately 2009/2010. 

Discarding  of  Samples:  To  allow  for  the  impact  of  short-term  pollution  incidents, 
the common position (Annex II) permits the discarding of 15% of all water samples. 

Fewer  Parameters:  In  Annex  I  of  the  common  position,  all  parameters  other  than 
those  concerning  microbiological  contamination  have  been  removed.  Provisions 
relating to other types of pollution are now to be found in Articles 8 and 9.  

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4. 

CONCLUSION 

The proposal has been discussed under three Presidencies and the major impediment 
to  achieving  agreement  has  always  been  the  stringency  of  the  water  quality 
standards.  A  significant  number  of  Member  States  were  concerned  that  the 
Commission’s  original  proposal  was  unrealistic  and  that  benefits  in  terms  of 
improvements to public health would have been disproportionate to the costs. 

The Commission would clearly have preferred to maintain the quality standards set 
out in its original proposal. However, the Commission is also anxious to ensure that 
the original directive from 1976 is updated to bring in: i) more effective approaches 
to the management of bathing areas; ii)better provisions for providing information to 
the public and iii) improved monitoring regimes focussed on the real health risks.  

The  Commission  considers  that  the  common  position  represents  a  significant 
improvement  on  the  arrangements  under  the  existing  directive  and  can  therefore 
support it. The Commission recognises that there are outstanding concerns relating to 
the level of protection afforded by the new standards, particularly in freshwaters and 
is committed to address these concerns as part of a shared cost action under the 6th 
Framework  Programme.  The  Commission  made  a  statement  for  inclusion  in  the 
Council minutes to this effect (see Annex).  

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Commission Declaration 

ANNEX I 

The  Commission’s  initial  proposal  provided  for  mandatory  water  quality  standards  which 
were  stricter  than  those  in  the  text  agreed  by  the  Council.  However,  the  Commission  also 
recognises that the current directive, adopted in 1976, is in urgent need of updating and it can 
therefore accept the Presidency text as overall it represents a significant improvement on the 
existing  arrangements.  The  Commission  considers  that  epidemiological  and  other  scientific 
studies would further improve our understanding of the health risks associated with bathing, 
especially in relation to freshwaters. Accordingly, the Commission will undertake a scientific 
investigation the results of which will be available by 2008. If this scientific study gives rise 
to  any  concerns  regarding  the  proposed  standards,  the  Commission  will  bring  forward,  if 
appropriate, the necessary proposals. 

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