As part of the July infringements package, the European Commission has opened a series of infringement procedures against eight EU Member States over alleged shortcomings in the implementation of key European water legislation, covering urban wastewater management, water permitting systems and drinking water quality requirements.
France has received a letter of formal notice for failing to comply with the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (Council Directive 91/271/EEC). According to the Commission's assessment of the latest data submitted by the country, 518 agglomerations do not meet the Directive's requirements. The findings indicate that four agglomerations collect only a limited proportion of their urban wastewater, with the remaining untreated wastewater discharged directly into sensitive areas. In addition, 416 agglomerations do not ensure secondary treatment before discharge, while 98 fail to provide the more stringent treatment needed in sensitive areas to remove phosphorus and/or nitrogen.
The Commission also initiated infringement procedures against Spain and Malta over the transposition of provisions in the Water Framework Directive (Directive 2000/60/EC) concerning the periodic review of water permits. It argues that Spain's legislation makes mandatory permit reviews dependent on specific circumstances and leaves the decision to the discretion of the authorities. In Malta, the Commission identified shortcomings related to the regulation of surface and groundwater abstraction, including the absence of certain registration, authorisation and periodic review requirements.
Separate letters of formal notice were sent to Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary and Slovakia regarding the implementation of the Drinking Water Directive (Directive (EU) 2020/2184). The Commission identified different transposition issues in each country, including provisions related to monitoring, risk assessment, hygiene requirements for materials in contact with drinking water, public information, remedial measures and the protection of human health.
The Commission stated that all the Member States concerned have two months to respond and address the issues raised. If their replies are not considered satisfactory, the next step in the infringement process could be the issuance of reasoned opinions.
