Commission welcomes EP vote on water quality standards
The European Commission welcomes the European Parliament's second reading vote today approving the agreement reached with the Council on the proposed directive on environmental quality standards in the field of water. The directive will better protect rivers, lakes and coastal waters against pollution from a range of chemical substances. The directive on environmental quality standards for water is the final major piece of legislation needed to support the Water Framework Directive (WFD), the cornerstone of EU water protection policy. The WFD requires that all EU waters should achieve 'good status' by 2015. It establishes a new regime for the prevention and control of chemical pollution of water. The new directive will implement this for surface waters by setting harmonised quality standards for a list of currently 33 priority substances. These standards will give a high level of protection to the environment and human health by translating the concept of 'good status' into transparent numerical values based on best available science and knowledge. The new directive will repeal five existing directives and at the same time simplify water-related reporting within WISE, the newly created Water Information System for Europe.
Internet: http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/0...
Posted on: 19.06.2008