On Thursday 21 December, the European Commission announced that it was referring Spain to the Court of Justice of the European Union for its failure to comply with the urban wastewater collection and treatment obligations laid down in the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (Directive 91/271/EEC).
This directive aims to protect human health and the environment by requiring urban wastewater to be collected and treated before being discharged into the environment.
For 29 agglomerations, Spain still has to set up wastewater collection systems and, in some cases, improve the environmental protection of individual systems.
In addition, in 225 agglomerations, Spain does not achieve the required levels of treatment for wastewater discharges after treatment. This will require the construction or modernisation of treatment infrastructures.
The Commission has already warned Spain in 2012 with a letter of formal notice, in 2015 with a reasoned letter of formal notice and in 2021 with a supplementary reasoned opinion, but the breaches persist. As a result, the case is now before the Court of Justice of the European Union.
This action is part of the ‘European Green Deal’ and its ‘zero pollution’ plan, which aims to reduce air, water and soil pollution in order to protect human health and natural ecosystems. (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)