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 adopted by the Council with a view to the adoption of a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on environmental quality standards in the field of water policy and amending Directives 82/176/EEC, 83/513/EEC, 84/156/EEC, 84/491/EEC, 86/280/EEC and 2000/60/EC
Date: 2008-01-10
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: dangerous substance, environmental standard, pollution control, pollution control measures, quality of the environment, water pollution, water protection

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 10.1.2008 
COM(2007) 871 final 

2006/0129 (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 adopted by the Council with a view to the adoption of a Directive of 
the European Parliament and of the Council on environmental quality standards in the 
field of water policy and amending Directives 82/176/EEC, 83/513/EEC, 84/156/EEC, 
84/491/EEC, 86/280/EEC and 2000/60/EC 

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2006/0129 (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 adopted by the Council with a view to the adoption of a Directive of 
the European Parliament and of the Council on environmental quality standards in the 
field of water policy and amending Directives 82/176/EEC, 83/513/EEC, 84/156/EEC, 
84/491/EEC, 86/280/EEC and 2000/60/EC 

(Text with EEA relevance) 

1- 

BACKGROUND 

Date of transmission of the proposal to the EP and the Council 
(document COM(2006)397 final – 2006/0129 COD): 

17 July 2006

Date  of  the  opinion  of  the  European  Economic  and  Social 
Committee: 

15 February 2007

Date of the opinion of the European Parliament, first reading: 

22 May 2007

Date of adoption of the common position (qualified majority): 

 20 December 2007

2- 

OBJECTIVE OF THE COMMISSION PROPOSAL 

The Commission proposal for a Directive on environmental quality standards in the field of 
water  policy  ("Directive  on  Priority  Substances")  is  a  “daughter  directive”  of  the  Water 
Framework Directive – WFD (2000/60/EC). It aims at: 

–  setting environmental quality standards for a certain number of substances (based 

on Article 16 (7) of the WFD),  

–  repealing existing legislation (as required by Article 16 (10) of the WFD) and  

–  reviewing 

the 

list  of  priority  hazardous  substances  (based  on  Decision 

2455/2001/EC).  

The proposal does not include additional emission controls (as per Article 16 (6) and (8) of 
the WFD) since more than 30 Community acts, which introduce emission controls for these 
substances, were presented by the Commission between 2000 and 2006 (including Regulation 
on  registration,  evaluation  and  authorisation  of  chemicals  –  REACH  (Regulation  (EC)  No. 
1907/2006)  and  the  Thematic  Strategy  on  Sustainable  Use  of  Pesticide  (COM(2006)  373 
final). Together with the existing legislation (including the Directive on Integrated Pollution 
Prevention and Control (Directive 96/61/EC)), the Member States have sufficient instruments 
to achieve the WFD objectives. This approach was set out in a Communication (COM(2006) 
398  final)  related  to  the  Directive  on  Priority  Substances  and  in  the  Impact  Assessment 

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(SEC(2006)  947  final).  Finally,  this  approach  and  the  repeal  of  several  directives  is 
contributing to the "better regulation" agenda. 

3 

3.1 

COMMENTS ON THE COMMON POSITION 

General comments 

The Commission accepted, in full, in part or in principle, 29 of the 71 amendments adopted by 
the  European  Parliament  in  its  first  reading.  22  amendments  have  now  been  incorporated, 
either verbatim, in part or in spirit, in the common position. 

The  Commission  accepted  all  the  amendments  which  sought  to  clarify  the  scope  of  the 
proposal.  The  Commission  did  not  accept  the  amendments  which  introduced  additional 
substances into the list or which changed the classification of "priority hazardous substances". 
The  Commission  believes  that  this  is  not  in  line  with  the  scope  of  the  proposal  and  the 
provisions  of  relevant  Community 
the  Commission  rejected  all 
amendments  which  duplicate  obligations  already  provided  for  under  the  Water  Framework 
Directive (2000/60/EC) or which affect the Commission's right of initiative.  

law.  Furthermore, 

The Council  has now  agreed to incorporate several  of the Parliamentary  amendments either 
verbatim,  in  part  or  in  spirit  because  they  offer  clarifications  or  develop  the  Commission's 
proposal in more detail. However, most of the amendments have not been incorporated into 
the  common  position  because  the  Council  agrees  with  the  Commission  that  they  are 
unnecessary and/or undesirable.  

The  Commission  considers  that  the  Common  Position  adopted  by  qualified  majority  on  20 
December 2007 does not alter the approach or aims of the Proposal and can thus support it as 
it stands. 

3.2 

Detailed comments 

3.2.1 

Parliamentary amendments accepted by the Commission and incorporated in full, in 
part or in principle in the common position 

Amendments 1, 4, 7, 8, 14, 21, 24, 29, 30, 35, 36, 40, 52, and 73 are incorporated to varying 
degrees. They provide clarifications and further specification, in particular on the relationship 
between  this  Directive  and  the  Water  Framework  Directive  and  other  relevant  Community 
legislation.  

3.2.2 

Parliamentary amendments rejected by the Commission but incorporated in full, in 
part or in principle in the common position 

Amendments 20 and 66 introduced a reference to the Water Framework Directive which was 
inconsistent with the provisions laid down in that Directive. The Council introduced a clearer 
drafting  into  Article  1  and  3  to  make  such  references  which  address  the  amendments  in 
principle but ensures the necessary consistency. Thus, the common position is acceptable to 
the Commission.  

Amendment  26  provides  for  flexibility  for  monitoring  quality  standards  in  sediment  and/or 
biota instead of water without introducing the necessary clarity and safeguards to ensure the 
same level of protection. The new paragraph 2 of Article 3 in the common position overcomes 
these  shortcomings  and  allows  for  the  monitoring  of  sediment  and/or  biota  in  a  clear  and 
transparent  way  which  allows  the  Commission  to  verify  that  the  environmental  protection 
objectives  and  the  conditions  in  the  internal  market  are  comparable  in  all  Member  States. 
Thus, the common position is acceptable to the Commission. 

Amendments 32, 33 and 45 were prejudging the appropriate course of action and infringing 

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on  the  Commission's  right  of  initiative.  In  principle,  these  aspects  are  considered  by  the 
common position by introducing a new Article 7 on reviewing the need for Community-wide 
emission controls on a regular basis. This is consistent with the obligations set out by Article 
18 of the Water Framework Directive and therefore acceptable to the Commission. 

Amendment 47 required to the Commission to prepare a report on pollution caused by third 
countries. The common position addresses this point in principle in the new articles 6 and 7. 
Both articles are in principle acceptable to the Commission. However, the Commission would 
prefer a refined drafting, in particular of the Article 6. This is to establish legal clarity in such 
a way that those provisions of Directive 2000/60/EC which allow Member States to deal with 
transboundary pollution issues are clearly set out, thereby ensuring that Member State are not 
be in breach of the proposed Directive.  

Amendments 50 and 51 proposed to merge the Part A and B of Annex I of the Commission 
proposal.  This  was  not  acceptable  since  the  Water  Framework  Directive  (WFD)  foresees 
different obligations, e.g. regarding monitoring, for the substances in the different parts of the 
annexes of the WFD. The common position merges the two parts of the annexes but specifies 
in  detail  the  different  obligations  for  the  different  substances.  Whilst  this  appears  less 
transparent,  it  does  not  change  the  substance  of  the  Commission  proposal  and  is  therefore 
acceptable. 

3.2.3 

Parliamentary  amendments  rejected  by  the  Commission  and  the  Council  and  not 
incorporated in the common position 

Amendments 2, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 19, 27, 28, 37, 39, 41, 44, 46, 47, 49, 53, 54, 56, 57, 58, 59, 
60, 61, 62, 63, 65, 67, 69, 70, 71, 72, 74, and 76 were rejected by both institutions and not 
incorporated. These amendments proposed to add substances to the list or to classify several 
"priority  hazardous  substances"  in  a  different  way.  Furthermore,  they  introduced  elements 
which were inconsistent or duplicating provisions in the Water Framework Directive or other 
Community  law.  Moreover,  some  amendments  did  not  respect  the  right  of  initiative  of  the 
Commission.  

3.2.4 

Parliamentary  amendments  accepted  in  full,  in  part  or  in  principle  by  the 
Commission but not incorporated in the common position 

Amendments 3, 12, 13, 16, 17, 18, 22, 23, 25, 31, 34, 38, 43, 48 and 79 were accepted in part 
or in principle by the Commission but not incorporated. Although the Commission shares the 
idea  underlying  these  amendments,  it  feels  that  they  are  mainly  clarifications  or  editorial 
editions to its proposal. 

.  The  Council  did  not  include  them  in  the  common  position  since  it  considered  them 
unnecessary and/or undesirable.  

3.2.5 

Additional changes made by the Council to the Proposal 

A  new  Article  2  clarifies  that  the  definitions  of  Directive  2000/60/EC  also  apply  for  this 
directive.  

The  mandate  for  the  Commission  for  the  amendment  of  parts  of  the  Annex  is  laid  down  in 
Article  3  (5).  In  the  light  of  the  recent  changes  of  Decision  1999/468/EC  (as  amended  by 
Council Decision 2006/512/EC), a regulatory procedure with scrutiny was introduced. 

Regarding the Articles 4 (mixing zone) and 5 (inventory), the Commission proposal foresaw a 
mandate  for  the  Commission  to  adopt  methods  or  guidelines  through  Comitology.  These 
paragraphs  were  deleted  since  it  was  decided  that  such  harmonisation  was  not  necessary. 
However, the Commission made a statement that it would organise an information exchange 

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between Member States on these issues. 

Recital 25 was introduced to incorporate text on correlation tables consistent with paragraph 
34 of the inter-institutional agreements on better law making.  

4- 

CONCLUSION 

The changes introduced by the Council help to clarify the proposal and specify some of the 
provisions in order to ensure consistency with the Water Framework Directive. The additional 
provisions  on the monitoring of  sediment and/or biota are acceptable  since  the  Commission 
shares the underlying intentions and it is ensured that the Commission can verify that Member 
States  apply  the  same  level  of  protection  and  thereby  ensure  the  functioning  of  the  internal 
market. The Commission can therefore accept the Common Position. 

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