Forward looking approach needed on water, Wallstrom warns
Speaking at a meeting organised by the French presidency in Lille on September 14, European Environment Commissioner Mrs Wallström warned of serious threats to the quality and quantity of water available to consumers throughput Europe. Many river systems and aquifers are polluted with nitrates from agriculture and the recent concerns in Denmark over MTBE (methyl tertiary butyl ether) leaking from fuel storage tanks has highlighted the role of industrial pollutants. Meanwhile, abstracting water for intensive agriculture and other purposes is causing 'alarming' reductions in water levels in rivers and aquifers not only in the more arid areas of southern Europe but throughout the EU. Mrs Wallström noted that the effects of tourism in the Mediterranean region was causing problems with both the quality and quantity of water resources. It was disappointing that the tourism industry is 'rarely asked to pay for its share of the environmental degradation it brings about', she said. Nor were these problems exclusive to the countries of Western Europe. There were similar, and often more serious issues, in Central and Eastern Europe and the protection of water resources in those states would be a key challenge during the enlargement of the EU, she said. However, the Water Framework Directive adopted by the European Parliament earlier in September was a milestone on the road to a sustainable policy on water resources. The directive was the first environmental legislation which sets out clear economic principles to be followed in achieving its goals. It promotes the use of water charging as an incentive for the protection of scarce resources and insists on the recovery of the costs of water services by industrial, domestic and agricultural users. She recognised that there was opposition from some quarters to the introduction of full cost recovery. However, she insisted that it was possible to marry environmental priorities with the objectives of other social and economic policies. It was possible, she said, to ameliorate the effects of environmentally-sound pricing on low income families. In the Flanders region of Belgium, for example, families received a free basic water allowance and charges were only levied on those using additional water. Crucial to the success of the water framework directive would be a review of other policy initiatives to ensure that the regulatory system did not 'take back with the left hand what we have given with the right.' A key priority would be reform of the Common Agricultural Policy to ensure that it no longer promoted subsidies to agriculture which could potentially harm the environment and, instead, supported measures which would ensure sustainable use of water resources, she said. While pricing lay at the core of any policy for an environmentally-sustainable water supply it was also vital to ensure a consistent approach, said Ms Wallström. 'Clearly, pricing is not the only instrument that can and will solve water resources problems. However, pricing must be given due consideration to promote more efficient and less polluting use of our scarce water resources. The Water Framework Directive offers the right framework to do so in the context of the preparation of river basin management plans.'ibility for
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