Brussels, 07/11/2001 (Agence Europe) - Last month, in adopting the report by Marialiese Flemming (EPP-ED, Austria) on the European Commission's Communication on water pricing (see EUROPE of 29/7/00, p.9) by 30 to 18 with one abstention, the European Parliament's Environment Committee highlighted the highly controversial nature of the dossier. The vote also gives a first indication of what is likely to be the EP's response to the future European Commission legislative proposal concerning the application of Article 9 of the Water Framework Directive which stipulates that Member States must ensure that by 2010, water pricing policies incorporate incentives for efficient water use along with a variable contribution from the different types of consumer to paying for the cost of services connected with water.
The Environment Committee aligned itself with the Commission's position whereby water pricing under the Framework Directive has to promote sustainable use of water and also recover the costs of services connected with water (and cut pollution). It believes that if the EU really wants to head off the threat of severe water shortages in future decades, it will have to make it compulsory to install water meters in farms, factories and homes. The Environment Committee is opposed, however, to liberalising the water market, stressing that water is not a commercial product and that access to water is an inalienable right for all human beings. It recognises, however, that water has to be used responsibly by the different sectors of the economy (households, industry and agriculture) which have to be aware of the "environmental and resource costs it engenders".
The Committee also rejects the idea of setting up a new authority to oversee water pricing, wanting the European Commission to put forward a proposal for water pricing to be "regionalised". The Committee wants the pricing system to guarantee the minimum amount of water needed to ensure a decent lifestyle be affordable for all consumers, particularly for domestic water supplies, but the system will incorporate sanctions for wasting water. The Environment Committee goes further than the European Commission in wanting to introduce cost recovery into the legislation rather than leaving this issue to the discretion of the Member States.
According to the Flemming report, the water pricing policy could play a vital role in promoting sustainable and more efficient water use in agriculture, as long as farmers are involved in setting the policy. The MEPs recommend that the cost of cleaning up after water pollution be borne by the polluters and that any subsidy concerning water that moves in the opposite direction from the EU's environment legislation be gradually abolished. This is why the Committee expresses deep concern at projects (like the Spanish hydroelectric programme) that do not address the issue of sustainable use of water resources through pricing or other means for conserving water.