Brussels, 27/02/2015 (Agence Europe) - A new stage was entered on Thursday 26 February in the infringement proceedings against Spain for failure to respect the EU's environment legislation. The European Commission has decided to take the country to the European Court of Justice (third stage in the infringement proceedings) for persistent failure to ensure adequate collection and treatment for urban waste water in areas with a population equivalent of more than 10,000. The water is pumped into “sensitive areas.”
Under the Urban Waste Water Directive (91/271/EEC), member states had until the end of 1993 to identify “sensitive areas” where more stringent water treatment is required, and they had to put in placesystems to collect and treat water entering these sensitive areas by 31 December 1998.
The latest reports from the Spanish authorities show that appropriate treatment is still lacking in agglomerations such as Berga, Figueres, El Terri (Banyoles), all in Catalonia, and Pontevedra-Marín-Poio-Bueu, in Galicia. For some other areas (Bollullos Par del Condado, Andalusia, and Abrera and Capellades, both in Catalonia) the Commission takes the view that the data submitted is either incomplete, or shows a failure to comply with the appropriate standards.
These infringements pose risks to human health, because untreated waste water can be contaminated with harmful bacteria and viruses, and also to the environment because it also contains nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorous that can damage fresh water and the marine environment, promoting excessive algae growth that chokes other living organisms, a process known as eutrophication.
Since 2003, when the Spanish authorities were sent a reasoned opinion warning letter (the second stage in the infringement proceedings), some problems have since been solved but the Commission says that the slow rate of progress has now led it to refer the case to the European Court of Justice.
The main type of waste water treatment stipulated in the directive is biological or 'secondary.' Agglomerations with a population equivalent of more than 10,000 pumping waste water into sensitive areas are required to have tighter water treatment systems, the deadline for which was 31 December 1998. (Aminata Niang)