Spain is being referred to the European Court of Justice for persistent non-compliance with the requirements of the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (91/271/EEC), the European Commission announced on Wednesday 6 April.
This directive requires EU Member States to collect and adequately treat wastewater from large agglomerations before discharging it in order to protect public health and the environment from contaminants.
The European Commission criticises Spain for not yet having fully addressed a widespread failure to comply with its obligations, despite a letter of formal notice sent in 2016 and a reasoned opinion in February 2020 requiring the Member State to comply for 133 agglomerations.
While progress has been made, Spain still needs to provide all agglomerations with collection systems or, where justified, individual systems or other appropriate systems, such as septic tanks, that achieve the same level of environmental protection.
It must also intensify its efforts to ensure that the wastewater collected is sufficiently treated to meet the requirements of the Directive. For some agglomerations, the treatment infrastructure still needs to be built, or improved where it exists.
In a statement, the European Commission underlines the importance of this directive in implementing the ‘European Green Deal’ and the EU’s ‘zero toxic pollution’ goal. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)