92000E3919

WRITTEN QUESTION P-3919/00

by Caroline Lucas (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(6 December 2000)

Subject: Bathing Water Directive

Would the Commission explain how it is that Member States, despite formal complaints to the Commission, contrary to the requirements of the 76/160/EC(1) Bathing Water Directive, are being permitted to continue to publicise false passes for bathing waters proven to fail the Directive mandatory standard? I refer to the United Kingdom, which in 1999 claimed 491 passes to mandatory conformity (91,4 % compliant) and 45 failures (8,8 % non-compliant) of their 537 designated bathing water resorts, when the findings conclusively prove only 54 (10 %) to pass, 76 (14,2 %) to fail with the remaining 407 (75,8 %) of unknown compliance due to dismissal and lack of testing for all four mandatory microbiological pathogens?

Does the Commission agree that issue of such false conformities is a threat to the health of unsuspecting people innocently entering such polluted waters, and will it take action to ensure factual and responsible public reporting of bathing water quality by all Member States in the future?

(1) OJ L 31, 5.2.1976, p. 1.

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(11 January 2001)

The Commission does not consider issuing such information as the Honourable Member is referring to is a threat to human health. Council Directive 76/160/EEC of 8 December 1975 main objective is to protect citizens against sewage polluted bathing water. The main indicators for sewage pollution are faecal indicators, such as faecal coliforms. The results presented in the Commission's annual report are based on the microbiological parameters, total and faecal coliforms which refer to possible human health risks; and three physico-chemical parameters or aesthetic parameters, i.e. is the water attractive to go bathing mineral oils, surface-active substances (detergents) and phenols (residue of chemical industry). Salmonella and enterovirus are not such indicators. Moreover, there is an ongoing debate about the relevance of these parameters in relation to bathing water quality management. The Commission has therefore asked the World health organisation (WHO) for its opinion on the issue.

Strictly legally speaking there is a case to disqualify beaches if salmonella/enterovirus are found to be present and to pursue Member States for not testing for salmonella and/or enterovirus. However, there is no statistical information to allow for a substantiated and meaningful evaluation of the situation across the Community. The Commission is currently assessing what action has been taken in all Member States to follow-up these parameters.