The Council of the EU and the European Parliament failed to reach an agreement in the negotiations on the hazardous substances to be monitored in water, on the night of Tuesday 17 to Wednesday 18 June.
Agreements were reached on producer liability and access to justice, but it had been decided in advance that this ‘trilogue’ would be only partial and not conclusive, as the negotiators “needed more time to discuss the technical aspects of the dossier”, a parliamentary source close to the dossier told Agence Europe.
“What is still blocked are the exemptions and the timetable, two points on which the Council is sticking firmly to its positions, while the Parliament is trying to go back to the Commission’s initial proposal or come closer to it”, another parliamentary source told Agence Europe.
Compromises were reached at a previous trilogue meeting in May (see EUROPE 13648/6) on the watch list, deadlines for starting monitoring campaigns and the reporting of monitoring data.
MEP Per Clausen (The Left, Danish), coordinator for these negotiations, is “worried” about what will happen next under the future Danish Presidency of the Council of the EU. In his view, the country has not sufficiently implemented the Water Framework Directive. Contacted by Agence Europe, the future Danish Presidency said it hoped to bring this issue to a close. The next round of negotiations is scheduled for 15 July. (Original version in French by Florent Servia)