Brussels, 22/03/2007 (Agence Europe) - On World Water Day on 22 March, the European Commission organised the first EU conference on water (which will continue on 23 March), urging member states to do more to implement the Water Framework Directive to achieve the target of ensuring a good level of water quality throughout the EU by 2015.
In Brussels on the same day, the Commission launched the Water Information System for Europe, WISE, a website designed with the European Environment Bureau (EEB) to provide information about water for the general public.
Created by the European Commission in partnership with the EEB, WISE can be accessed at http: //water.europa.eu. It provides information on the quality of water in the EU, the implementation of water policies and the main water issues covered at EU level. It includes interactive maps and information supplied by the member states. The information platform is linked to the WISE RTD portal, which gives up-to-date scientific information on water issues.
WISE and the first report on implementation of the 2000 Water Framework Directive (revealing huge variations in performance in the member states) were presented at a joint Commission and EEB press conference. EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said that lack of water and defective water quality both had a bad impact on the economic and social fabric of society. To date, only some 43% of the EU sub-surface water and 28% of groundwater meet the quality requirements set for 2015. The commissioner urged member states to raise standards as a matter of utmost urgency. To a question from a reporter, Dimas answered that the best member states in terms of water quality were Austria and Cyprus, with Italy and Greece lagging far behind.
On behalf of the European Parliament, German Christian Democrat Karl Heinz Florenz, who used to be rapporteur on the Water Framework Directive, welcomed the legislation and highlighted the cross-border nature of water issues. He said that everyone had understood that everyone was suffering. If a problem arises in France or Germany, for example, it is found all along the Rhine and in the Netherlands.
Portuguese Environment Minister Francisco Nunes Correira, whose country will be taking over the presidency of the Council on 1 July 2007, said that the water shortage which the United Nations has been highlighting was also of growing concern in Europe. He said extreme situations like drought had to be examined very closely because they were growing in scale as a result of climate change. A few years ago, he pointed out, drought was seen as a problem for southern European countries but water shortages were now a problem for the north of Europe too in countries like Finland and the United Kingdom. He said the Portuguese presidency would be organising an Environment Council meeting in September to discuss water.
Jacqueline McGlade, EEB Executive Director, was at pains to stress the global nature of water shortages, noting that information was the first lever of action when it comes to using less of this priceless non-renewable resource. While 35 years of EU legislation and 14 EU directives had made progress in greatly improving the quality of bathing water, much more needed to be done. She said that while there were still concerns over the levels of nitrates and other chemicals, the overall impression was positive. Citizens have the feeling, she said, that water is re-used and recycled and therefore used wisely but a study in the Netherlands and Denmark has shown that investing in changing people's behaviour is more effective that other types of action. To get people motivated, you have to raise awareness. Saying that water quality will be improved is useless if huge amounts of water are used in the economy, added McGlade, giving the example of making a single pair of jeans, which requires 11,000 litres of water. Putting the water situation into its global context, she explained that while the average use of water in the EU stands at 165 litres per citizen every day, one in three people on planet Earth have problems accessing any water at all. The EEA director said that the challenge for tomorrow would be where to get water for all the world's inhabitants. To satisfy global needs, some €180 billion would have to be invested in other countries, and people should be WISE about this, added McGlade.
In a press release, EU Development Commissioner Louis Michel said that at the start of the twenty-first century, more than half a billion people around the world did not have access to drinking water, and more than two billion of the world's inhabitants do not have basic sanitation, meaning that millions of children die every year from diseases due to infected water. He said the EU had assumed its solidarity responsibilities by launching the EU Water Initiative in 2002 at the Johannesburg summit; had supplied €400 million eros for improving access to water and sanitation during humanitarian crises; and had provided €475 million over the last six years to African, Caribbean and Pacific states. (an)