Report from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on implementation of Council Directive 91/676/EEC concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources based on Member State reports for the period 2004-2007 SEC(2010)118
Date: 2010-02-09
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: application of EU law, chemical salt, environmental protection, fertiliser, pollution from agricultural sources, report, water pollution

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EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 9.2.2010 
COM(2010)47 final 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT 

On implementation of Council Directive 91/676/EEC concerning the protection of waters 
against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources based on Member State reports 
for the period 2004-2007 

SEC(2010)118 

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REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT 

On implementation of Council Directive 91/676/EEC concerning the protection of waters 
against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources based on Member State reports 
for the period 2004-2007  

1. 

INTRODUCTION 

Council Directive 91/676/EEC (hereafter referred to as the Nitrates Directive) aims 
to  protect  waters  against  pollution  caused  or  induced  by  nitrates  from  agricultural 
sources  through  a  number  of  steps  to  be  fulfilled  by  Member  States:  water 
monitoring (with regard to nitrate concentration and trophic status); identification of 
waters  that  are  polluted  or  at  risk  for  pollution;  designation  of  vulnerable  zones 
(areas  that  drain  into  identified  waters);  the  establishment  of  codes  of  good 
agricultural  practices  and  action  programmes  (a  set  of  measures  to  prevent  and 
reduce nitrate pollution) and the review at least every 4 years of the designation of 
vulnerable zones and action programmes. 

Article 10 of the Nitrates Directive requires Member States to submit a report to the 
Commission  every  four  years  following  its  notification.  This  report  should  contain 
information pertaining to codes of good agricultural practice, designated vulnerable 
zones,  the  results  of  water  monitoring  and  a  summary  of  the  relevant  aspects  of 
action programmes drawn up in relation to nitrate vulnerable zones. 

The aim of the present report is to inform the European Parliament and the Council 
on  the  state  of  the  implementation  of  the  Nitrates  Directive,  in  accordance  with 
article 11. It is based on the information submitted by Member States referring to the 
period 2004-2007 and is accompanied by aggregated maps of nutrient pressures from 
agricultural  sources,  of  water  quality  and  of  designated  nitrate  vulnerable  zones 
included in the Staff Working Document (SEC(2010)118). This is the first time that 
all  27  Member  States  have  submitted  a  report1.  It,  therefore,  deals  principally  with 
EU 27, but, also includes a comparison with the third reporting period for the former 
EU 15 and some new Member States. A comparison with the former reporting period 
is  not  possible  for  all  New  Member  States  for  many  of  which  this  was  the  first 
report2.  Reports  were  submitted  in  2008-2009.  Several  Member  States  provided 
additional information during 2009, mainly regarding water quality data. 

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Including Romania and Bulgaria, although not yet obliged. Bulgaria included also water quality data for 
the period 2000-2003 
Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia and Hungary reported in 2004 on the period 2000-2003.  

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2. 

EVOLUTION  OF  PRESSURES  FROM  AGRICULTURE  SINCE  THE  LAST 
REPORTING PERIOD 

The  progressive  reduction  in  mineral  nitrogen  fertilizer  consumption,  which  started 
in the early 1990s, stabilized during the period 2004-2007 for the EU 15. At EU 27 
level  the  nitrogen  consumption  shows  a  slightly  increasing  trend3.  As  compared  to 
the  last  reporting  period,  the  yearly  total  amount  of  mineral  nitrogen  fertilizer 
consumption  remained  stable  around  9  million  tons  in  the  EU-154  whereas  it  has 
increased by 6%, from 11.4 to 12.1 million tons, in the EU 27. 

Consumption of mineral phosphorus fertilizers reduced with 9% for EU the 15, while 
it decreased by only 1% for the EU 27 as compared with the last reporting period4. 

The decreasing trend in animal numbers noted in the last reporting period stabilised 
in the period 2004-2007. Comparison between 2003 and 20075 show that for EU 15 
pig  and  poultry  numbers  -apart  from  laying  hens-  decreased,  while  goat  sheep  and 
cattle  numbers  slightly  increased.  Dairy  cattle  numbers  increased  with  7.6%  in  EU 
15.  For  EU  27  similar  trends  are  noticed;  however  a  more  pronounced  decrease  in 
poultry numbers- apart from laying hens- is noted. 

The amount of nitrogen from animal husbandry spread annually on agricultural soils 
in the EU 27 has decreased from 9.4 to 9.1 million tons between 2003 and 2007 and 
from 7.9 to 7.6 for the EU15. There are large differences in pressure from agriculture 
between Member States6. Areas with a high nutrient pressure include among others 
the  Netherlands,  Belgium-Flanders  and  France-Brittany.  Member  States  in  Eastern 
Europe generally have lower pressures due to lower input of fertilizers and livestock 
density.  

The contribution of nitrogen loads from agriculture to surface waters is decreasing in 
many  Member  States.  Nevertheless,  the  relative  contribution  from  agriculture 
remains high. In most Member States agriculture is responsible for over 50% of the 
total nitrogen discharge to surface waters. The share of nitrogen loads in river basins 
that comes from diffuse sources remains high in large parts of Europe7. 

3. 

WATER QUALITY, STATUS AND TRENDS 

Monitoring networks 

Adequate monitoring of waters is crucial for water quality assessment and requires a 
representative  monitoring  network  throughout  the  territory  for  ground,  surface  as 
well  as  marine  waters.  Several  Member  States  are  integrating  nitrate  monitoring  in 
monitoring  networks  established  under  the  Water  Framework  Directive8.  For  the 

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6 
7 
8 

See figures 1A and 1B in the SWD 
Based  on  OECD  statistics  for  2003-2007.  The  database  has  no  info  on  Belgium  and  Ireland.  Ireland 
provided own figures. 
See table 3 in the SWD. 
See maps 1 to 6 in the SWD. 
See map 7 in the SWD. 
Directive 2000/60/EC. 

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present reporting period 50% of the monitoring stations from 10 Member States were 
the same in the Nitrates Directive and Water Framework Directive databases. 

The  total  number  of  sampling  sites  in  the  EU  27  is  31,000  for  groundwater  and 
27,000  for  surface  waters.  The  number  of  sites  in  the  EU  12  is  substantially  lower 
than  in  the  EU  15  and  amounts  to  7,000  for  groundwaters  and  5,000  for  surface 
waters.  As  compared  to  the  previous  reporting  period,  the  number  of  groundwater 
sites in the EU 15 has increased from 20,000 to 24,000, while the number of surface 
water  sampling  sites  remained  stable  at  22,000.  The  total  number  of  common  sites 
with  the  former  reporting  period,  which  facilitates  trend  calculations,  amounts  to 
18,000 for groundwater and 14,000 for surface water. 

The average groundwater sampling site density is 13.7 per 1000 km2 with the highest 
density  in  Belgium,  Malta  and  Denmark  (99,  44  and  34  sites  per  1000  km2, 
respectively) and the lowest in Finland, Sweden and Lithuania (0.2, 0.4 and 0.8 sites 
per  1000  km²,  respectively).  Most  Member  States  have  provided  groundwater 
monitoring  data  for  different  depths  ranging  from  0-5  to  more  than  30  m.  A  Few 
Member States have provided information on monitoring frequency that ranges from 
1 (the Netherlands) to 4 times per year (Belgium, France, Slovenia and Slovakia). 

The average fresh surface water sampling site density is 7.4 per 1000 km2 land area, 
with  the  highest  density  in  Malta,  Belgium  and  the  United  Kingdom  (with  114,  29 
and 36 per 1000 km2, respectively) and lowest in Finland (0.5 sites per 1000 km²). 
Most  Member  States  with  marine  waters  also  have  marine  monitoring  sites. 
Monitoring frequency for surface waters ranges from on average 7.4 times per year 
in  Romania  and  up  to  26  times  per  year  in  some  monitoring  sites  in  Germany  and 
Slovenia. 

Member States provided geo-referenced data regarding water quality based on which 
aggregated  maps9  of  water  quality  could  be  drawn  regarding  nitrate  pollution  and 
trophic status of waters.  

Groundwater 

In  the  period  2004-2007,  15%  of  EU  27  monitoring  stations  had  average  nitrate 
concentrations  above  50  mg  nitrate  per  litre10,  6%  were  in  the  range  40  to  50  mg 
nitrate per litre and 13% were in the range 25-40 mg nitrate per litre. Approximately 
66% of the groundwater stations  had  a concentration  below 25 mg nitrate per litre. 
For the EU 15 the figures are 17% above 50 mg per litre, 6% in the range 40 to 50 
mg per litre, 15% in the range 25-40 mg per litre and 62% below 25 mg per litre11. 
Regions with high concentrations (above 40 mg per litre) are parts of Estonia, South-
East  of  the  Netherlands,  Belgium-Flanders,  the  centre  of  England,  several  parts  of 
France,  Northern  Italy,  the  North-East  of  Spain,  South-East  Slovakia,  Southern 
Romania, Malta and Cyprus. Also many stations along the Mediterranean coast have 
relatively high values. 

Trends in Groundwater Quality 

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See maps 8-15 in the SWD. 
50 mg NO3-/l is the trigger value set in the Nitrates Directive. 
See figure 2 in the SWD. 

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Most  Member  States  that  reported  for  the last  period  have  compared  the  data  from 
the  current  with  that  period,  including  some  of  the  New  Member  States  (Bulgaria, 
Cyprus, Estonia and Hungary12). Sweden did not provide trends since almost all their 
groundwater is below 25 mg nitrate per litre and because less monitoring points have 
been assessed  for  this reporting  period. Trends could not be determined for Greece 
due to lack of data and for Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Malta, Romania, Slovenia and 
Slovakia that reported for the first time. 

Comparison with the data of the previous reporting period13 shows that, at EU 1514 
level, stable and decreasing trends are prevalent (66% of the monitoring stations, of 
which  30%  with  decreasing  trends).  However,  34%  of  the  monitoring  stations  still 
show an upwards trend. In the new Member States that have compared data with the 
former  period  (Bulgaria,  Cyprus,  Estonia  and  Hungary),  80%  of  the  stations  are 
stable, 11% of the stations show a decreasing trend and 9% show an increasing trend. 
The Member States with increasing trends in more than 30% of monitoring stations 
were  Belgium,  France,  Spain,  Portugal,  Germany,  Ireland,  Italy  and  United 
Kingdom. However, with the exception of Ireland, these Member States show similar 
or  even  higher  percentages  of  stations  with  improving  quality.  Trend  analysis  per 
water  quality  class15  shows  that  in  several  Member  States  the  share  of  points 
exceeding  50  mg  per  litre  is  still  increasing  including  Belgium,  Denmark,  Greece, 
Spain,  France,  Ireland,  Italy,  the  Netherlands  and  the  United  Kingdom.  The  share 
above  50  mg  per  litre  decreased  in  Austria,  Germany,  Finland,  Luxembourg  and 
Portugal.  However,  data  should  be  interpreted  carefully  as  many  Member  States 
substantially  increased  the  monitoring  density  which  might  influence  the  share  of 
points per quality class. 

Depth of groundwater 

Deeper groundwater is less contaminated than shallow groundwater. The layer with 
the highest fraction of sites exceeding 50 mg nitrate per litre is between 5 and 15 m 
deep16.  

Fresh surface water 

In  the  period  2004-2007,  21%  of  EU  27  surface  water  monitoring  stations  showed 
average nitrate concentrations below 2 mg per litre and 37% between 2 and 10 mg 
per litre. The concentration averaged between 40 mg per litre and 50 mg per litre in 
3% of the stations and above 50 mg per litre also in 3% of the stations. For the EU 15 
the  figures  are  24%  below  2  mg  per  litre,  30%  between  2  and  10  mg  per  litre,  4% 
between 40 mg and 50 mg per litre and also 4% exceeding 50 mg per litre. 

Member  States  with  the  highest  proportion  below  2  mg/l  were  Sweden  (97%), 
Bulgaria (76%), Finland (59%) and Portugal (50%). Member States with the highest 
proportion  exceeding  50  mg/l  were  Malta  (43%),  Belgium  (10%)  and  the  United 

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Czech Republic did not provide water quality data in the report submitted for 2000-2003, which made 
trend analysis not possible. 
See figure 3 in the SWD. 
Except Sweden for the above mentioned reasons. 
See table 1 in the SWD. 
See figure 4 in the SWD. 

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Kingdom (7%)17. 
Particularly England, Flanders and Brittany show high values above 40 mg/l. In the 
new Member States, parts of Czech Republic and Hungary and a few areas in Poland 
show elevated nitrate concentrations in surface waters (above 25 mg/l)18 

Trends in fresh surface water quality 

As compared with the last reporting period, the nitrate concentration is decreasing or 
stable  in  70%  of  the  monitoring  points  for  EU  15.  France  (18%)  has  the  highest 
proportion  of  stations  with  improving  quality19  while  Greece20  (41%)  and 
Luxembourg  (30%)  have  the  highest  proportion  of  stations  with  declining  water 
quality21.  Italy  and  Belgium  have  a  relatively  high  proportion  of  stations  with 
improving quality (10% for Italy, 13% for Belgium), but a similar proportion with a 
declining  quality.  Regions  with  a  relatively  large  fraction  of  strongly  increasing 
nitrate concentrations also include the west of England, Greece and the eastern part 
of  the  Po  delta  in  Italy22.  However,  the  latter  shows  also  a  relatively  large  fraction 
with  a  strongly  decreasing  trend.  Of  the  new  Member  States  that  have  reported 
trends,  Cyprus  (26%)  has  the  highest  proportion  of  improving  trends,  whereas 
Estonia  (10%)  has  the  highest  proportion  of  declining  trends23.  Trend  analysis  per 
water quality class24 shows that the share of points exceeding 50 mg per litre is still 
increasing in several Member States, particularly  in Belgium  and United Kingdom. 
The share above 50 mg per litre decreased in France and Italy while several EU 15 
Member  States  show  no  values  above  50  mg  per  litre  for  surface  waters  (Austria, 
Germany,  Greece,  Finland,  Ireland,  Luxembourg  Portugal  and  Sweden).  However, 
data should be interpreted carefully as changes in monitoring density might influence 
the share of points per water quality class. 

Trophic state surface waters 

Member  States  used  different  criteria  to  assess  the  trophic  status  of  fresh  surface 
waters, which makes it difficult to compare trophic status of waters between Member 
States. Chlorophyll-a, total  nitrogen, total phosphorus and  orthophosphate  are  often 
used  parameters  and  17  Member  States  have  reported  on  the  trophic  status  of  their 
waters using one or more of these parameters. In 40% of the reported EU-stations25 
on  trophic  status  the  surface  water  is  defined  as  oligotrophic  or  ultra-oligotrophic, 
while in 33% of the stations the water is defined as eutrophic or hypertrophic. Malta 
and  Hungary  have  the  highest  proportion  of  hypertrophic  waters  and  Bulgaria  and 
Latvia the highest proportion of oligotrophic waters26. 
Not all Member States having marine waters reported on their quality, which makes 

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See figure 5 in the SWD. 
See maps 11, 12 and 14 in Chapter I of the SWD. 
Decrease in nitrate concentrations of at least 5mg per litre. 
Greece  provided  an  updated  dataset,  however  due  to  late  submission  it  could  not  be  considered,  first 
delivered data are presented. 
Increase in nitrate concentrations of at least 5mg per litre. 
See map 13 in the SWD. 
See figure 6 in the SWD. 
See table 2 in the SWD. 
EU 27 minus Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Italy, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland. 
and United Kingdom due to lack of or incomplete data.  
See figure 7 in the SWD. 

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an  evaluation  at  European  level  rather  difficult  within  the  context  of  this  reporting 
exercise. 

4. 

DESIGNATION OF NITRATE VULNERABLE ZONES 

Member states are required to designate as vulnerable zones all areas of land in their 
territory that drain into polluted waters or waters at risk of pollution if no action is 
taken.  At  least  every  four  years  Member  States  are  required  to  review,  and,  if 
necessary, revise nitrate vulnerable zones on the basis of results of water monitoring. 
Member  States  may,  in  stead  of  designating  specific  zones,  also  opt  to  apply  an 
action  programme  throughout  the  entire  territory.  Austria,  Denmark,  Finland, 
Germany,  Ireland,  Lithuania,  Luxembourg,  Malta,  the  Netherlands  and  Slovenia 
have adopted a whole territory approach. 

Of  the  EU  27  area,  39.6%27  has  been  designated  as  vulnerable  zone,  including  the 
area  of  Member  States  that  apply  a  whole  territory  approach.  As  compared  to  the 
previous reporting period the total area in the EU 15 designated as vulnerable zone or 
subject to whole territory approach has increased by 1%, representing now 44.6% of 
the  total  EU  15  area.  Notably  Portugal,  Belgium  and  Italy  have  increased  their 
vulnerable zone area during the period 2004-2007. Spain also increased designation 
during 2008-2009. 

5. 

ACTION PROGRAMMES 

Member States are required to establish one or more action programmes that apply to 
designated vulnerable zones or to the whole territory if they have chosen the whole 
territory approach. Those action programmes should include at least the measures as 
referred to in the annexes II and III of the Nitrates Directive and that relate to, among 
others,  periods  during  the  year  when  fertilisation  is  prohibited,  minimum  required 
storage capacity for livestock manure, the limitation of land application of fertilisers 
and land application near waters or on slopes.  

All  Member  States  have  established  one  or  more  action  programmes  on  their 
territory and have provided in their reports information regarding newly established 
action programmes and modifications following the required periodical review. 

Several Member States have used the possibility foreseen by the Nitrates Directive to 
design  and  implement  different  action  programmes  on  individual  nitrate  vulnerable 
zones  or  parts  of  zones  including  France,  Portugal,  Spain,  United  Kingdom, 
Belgium, Italy, Poland and Romania.  

Most  action  programmes  cover  required  measures;  however,  some  need  further 
reinforcement in order to sufficiently protect water quality against nitrogen pollution. 
Main  insufficiencies  relate  to  storage  provisions,  balanced  fertilisation  and 
establishment of periods during which fertilisation is banned.  

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Based on data for the year 2007, see table 4 figure 8 and map 16 in the SWD. 

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The  Nitrates  Directive  limits  the  land  application  from  livestock  manure  to  170  kg 
N/ha  per  year  in  designated  zones  to  which  action  programmes  apply.  This 
application standard is established in almost all action programmes.  

The  storage  capacity  for  manure  has  increased  further  during  this  last  reporting 
period.  Nevertheless,  insufficient  storage  capacity  for  manure  is  among  the  most 
cited  difficulties  which  Member  States  encounter  during  the  implementation  of 
action  programmes.  Storage  capacity  should  be  sufficient  in  order  to  cover  the 
periods  when  manure  application  is  prohibited  or  impossible  due  to  climatic 
conditions.  Lack  of  financial  resources  among  farmers  is  cited  as  hampering  the 
construction of new storage facilities.  

The  majority  of  farmers  subjected  to  control  showed  a  high  compliance  with  the 
measures  of  the  action  programmes.  However,  the  following  difficulties  in 
implementing the action programmes were reported: 

•  Accurate record keeping by farmers regarding manure and fertilizer application 

•  Low awareness level by farmers, especially in case of small holdings. Many such 
farmers have difficulties in understanding the measures of the action programmes 
due to a lack of knowledge 

A  number  of  Member  States  (e.g.  Austria,  the  Netherlands)  report  that  the  overall 
awareness  by  farmers  regarding  the  natural  environment  has  changed  in  a  positive 
way, resulting for instance in an improved handling of manure and fertilizers.  

Chapter  III  of  the  Staff  Working  Document  refers  to  some  examples  of  progress 
made in action programmes for several Member States.  

The  Commission  is  also  aware  of  an  increased  interest  in  manure  processing 
initiatives.  In  several  Member  States,  in  particular  the  regions  with  intensive 
livestock production and high nutrient surpluses, livestock manure is being processed 
in order to generate end products that are easily transportable for export or products 
with  a  changed  nutrient  ratio  that  allows  better  nutrient  management  resulting  in 
reduced nutrient surpluses. The processing techniques range from simple separation 
into  a  liquid  and  solid  fraction  to  more  advanced  techniques  such  as  drying, 
composting  or  incineration  of  solid  fractions  and  biological  treatment,  membrane 
filtration  and  physico-chemical  techniques  for  liquid  fractions.  The  techniques  are 
often  combined  with  digestion  processes  in  biogas  installations  for  energy 
production. The establishment of several large cooperative initiatives in which large 
groups  of  farmers  invest  commonly  in  manure  processing  installations  is  also  of 
interest. Such initiatives now exist notably in Spain, the Netherlands and Belgium.  

It  should  also  be  mentioned  that  there  exists  an  increased  interest  among  livestock 
farmers  for  the  application  of  adapted  feeding  techniques  such  as  low  N  diets, 
multiphase  feeding  with  adapted  feed  depending  on  growth  stage  and  advanced 
feeding management that improves the overall efficiency of feed use in the animal. 
Advanced  feed  processing  techniques  contribute  to  improved  feed  conversion 
efficiency and reduced nutrient excretion.  

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6. 

DEROGATIONS 

The  Nitrates  Directive  allows  for  the  possibility  for  a  derogation  in  respect  to  the 
maximum  amount  of  170  kg  nitrogen  per  hectare  per  year  for  livestock  manure, 
provided that it is demonstrated that the directive’s objectives are still achieved and 
that the derogation is based on objective criteria such as long growing seasons, crops 
with high nitrogen uptake, high net precipitation or soils with a high denitrification 
capacity.  Derogations  require  a  Commission  Decision  following  the  opinion  of  the 
Nitrates Regulatory Committee, which assists the Commission on implementation of 
the  directive.  Appropriate  designation  of  nitrate  vulnerable  zones  and  action 
programmes fully in conformity with the directive are prerequisites to any derogation 
and the derogation applies only for the duration of the action programme. A list of 
derogations  granted  until  December  2009  is  provided  in  the  Chapter  II  of  the  Staff 
Working Document. 

7. 

FORECAST ON WATER QUALITY 

Many Member States provided elements on assessment methods (trend analyses and 
simulation models), for the evaluation of trends in agricultural pressure and/or water 
quality evolution. No information was provided by Cyprus, France, Greece, Latvia, 
Malta, Portugal, Romania and Slovenia. Ireland did not provide simulation models, 
but cited measures and developments as likely to impact positively on water quality 
in future. 

As in the last reporting period, only a few Member States provided quantitative data 
on the time scale during which either a stabilization of pollution or a recovery of the 
water  quality  is  forecasted  to  be  achieved.  Many  Member  States  point  out  the 
difficulties  in  making  such  a  forecast,  mostly  referring  to  uncertainties  regarding 
climate  and  transport  processes  in  soils  and  the  fact  that  other  measures  beyond 
agricultural measures have been taken to improve water quality. 

In  general,  despite  the  achieved  improvements  in  water  quality,  it  will  still  take 
several  years  to  decades  before  full  recovery  of  water  quality  can  be  achieved  as  a 
result  of  the  implementation  of  the  action  programmes  and  modification  of  the 
agricultural practices. In the few cases where a timescale of a substantial restoration 
of water quality is provided, it ranges from 4-8 years (Germany and Hungary) to over 
several decades for deeper groundwaters (the Netherlands).  

8. 

INFRINGEMENT PROCEDURES 

The  implementation  of  the  Nitrates  Directive  is  still  incomplete,  mainly  relating  to 
insufficient  designation  of  nitrate  vulnerable  zones  and  non  conformity  of  action 
programmes. The Commission is in continuous discussion with all Member States as 
to attain compliant implementation and has currently 3 open infringement cases. The 
case  against  Spain  relates  to  designation  of  vulnerable  zones  and  content  of  action 
programmes,  the  ones  against  France  and  Luxembourg  relate  to  the  action 
programmes.  

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9. 

LINKS WITH OTHER EU POLICIES 

The Nitrates Directive has close links with other EU policies in the field of water, air, 
climate  change  and  agriculture.  Experiences  of  implementation  and  more  advanced 
scientific  insights  in  synergistic  effects  of  measures  in  nitrate  action  programmes, 
indicates  the  value  of  full  implementation  of  the  policies.  A  recent  study28  on 
integrated  measures  in  agriculture  to  reduce  ammonia  emissions  has  shown 
important benefits for air and the remission of green house gas emissions through the 
implementation of the Nitrates Directive. Further details on policy links are referred 
to in Chapter 4 of the staff working document. 

10. 

CONCLUSIONS 

This  reporting  exercise  includes  for  the  first  time  all  27  Member  States.  All  new 
Member States, have established monitoring networks, designated vulnerable zones 
and established action programmes.  

Regarding  water  quality,  for  groundwater,  66%  of  the  monitoring  stations  show 
stable  or  decreasing  nitrate  concentrations.  However,  in  34%  of  the  stations  an 
increase  in  nitrate  pollution  was  still  observed  and  15%  of  stations  showed  nitrate 
concentrations  above  the  quality  threshold  of  50  mg  per  litre.  Within  groundwater 
bodies, shallow levels showed higher nitrate concentrations than deeper levels. The 
highest  proportion  of  contaminated  water  lies  between  5  and  15  metres  below  the 
surface.  

For  fresh  surface  water,  70%  of  the  monitoring  stations  show  stable  or  decreasing 
nitrate concentrations. In 3% the concentration is exceeding 50 mg per litre while in 
21%  the  concentration  is  below  2  mg  per  litre.  In  33%  of  the  stations  monitoring 
trophic  status,  the  water  is  defined  eutrophic  or  hypertrophic.  The  pressure  from 
agriculture  with  respect  to  surface  water  nitrate  pollution  has  decreased  in  many 
Member  States,  although  still,  agriculture  contributes  largely  to  nitrogen  loads  to 
surface waters. 

A  further  increase  in  the  area  of  vulnerable  zones  as  compared  to  the  former 
reporting period is observed in the EU 15. Designated zones increased from 43,7% to 
44,6  %  of  the  EU  15  territory,  while  39,6%  of  the  EU  27  territory  is  designated, 
including  the  territory  of  Member  States  that  apply  an  action  programme  on  the 
whole territory. However, water quality data show that, in several regions, for both 
EU  15  as  EU  12,  further  increases  in  designation  are  necessary  according  to  the 
criteria set out in the Nitrates Directive.  

The  quality  of  action  programmes  further  improved  as  compared  with  the  last 
reporting  period  in  the  EU  15;  however,  it  is  still  often  driven  by  infringement 
procedures.  All  new  Member  States  established  action  programmes,  but  several 
programmes  need  further  improvement  in  order  to  attain  full  compliance  with  the 
requirements  of  the  Nitrates  Directive,  particularly  the  provisions  that  relate  to 
storage  construction,  balanced  fertilisation  and  establishment  of  periods  during 
which land application is banned. Availability of information and training services to 

28 

Commission report 'Integrated measures in agriculture to reduce ammonia emissions', Alterra, 2007 

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farmers  and  efficient  control  programmes  are  essential  in  order  to  ensure  effective 
implementation of programmes in the field.  

In intensive livestock regions an increased interest in manure processing techniques 
is  observed,  allowing  more  efficient  nutrient  management  often  combined  with 
production of energy from biogas production. The efficient nutrient management is 
playing a role in reducing farm costs. 

Experiences of implementation and advanced scientific insights in synergistic effects 
of  measures  in  nitrate  action  programmes  suggest  that  nitrogen  policies  require  an 
integrated approach by considering the whole nitrogen cycle and that implementation 
of the Nitrates Directive brings substantial benefits notably in terms of reductions in 
ammonia and greenhouse gas emissions as well in the wider field of water protection 
under  the  Water  Framework  Directive.  More  attention  to  this  aspect  of  nitrogen 
management  will  be  necessary  in  future,  as  well  as  an  adequate  and  continuous 
support from the scientific community at both National and European level. 

The  Commission  will  continue 
improve 
implementation with the common aim to protect waters. It will continue to take legal 
action where it considers necessary.  

to  work  with  Member  States 

to 

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