Brussels, 13/12/2011 (Agence Europe) - As highlighted by the latest data available, the European directive on urban waste water treatment (Directive 91/271/EEC) is bearing fruit, but there is still room for improvement. According to the report published by the Commission on 13 December on implementation of the legislation in 2007/2008, most of the older member states (EU15) have maintained good standards of waste water treatment and improved on treatment of sensitive waters, while the newer member states (EU12) have improved on overall collection and treatment.
The findings of the report - the sixth of its kind - reveal that:
Most EU15 urban waste water collection systems are very effective and capture 99% of their target waters.
The total area designated as sensitive (eutrophic or at risk of becoming eutrophic), and requiring more stringent treatment, has increased from 68% to 73% since the last report. This could partially indicate an increase of eutrophic waters, but also that member states better recognise and protect their sensitive waters.
There are still large variations regarding implementation of more stringent water treatment, but very high compliance rates have been reached in Austria, Netherlands and Germany; improvements were made in Denmark, Finland, France, Luxembourg and Sweden, and in the EU12, especially in Lithuania.
Waste water treatment is well advanced in big cities, with more stringent treatment installations in place for 77% of such waste water. Some cities, however, still do not have adequate treatment, including four in the EU15: Barreiro/Moita and Matosinhos in Portugal, Frejus in France, and Trieste in Italy.
Between 2007 and 2013, €14 billion will have been spent throughout the EU for setting in place the infrastructure for collection and waste water treatment in line with Directive 91/217/EEC.
In 2007/2008, the directive was to have been fully transposed into national legislation by the longstanding member states. The new member states were given extra time to comply. In 2007/2008, some of them (Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Romania and Slovenia) still had deadlines pending. The Commission plans to work with member states as far as possible to help them do better, especially through the funding of projects under the cohesion fund. However, it will also continue to take legal action against countries where implementation falls behind, especially in cases of serious implementation gaps and delays. (AN/transl.jl)