EC Gives France Final Warning on Wastewater Treatment Violations

January 31, 2008 // Published as a news service by IHS

France is not complying with the 1991 EU directive on urban wastewater treatment, despite previously having been condemned by the ECJ for this, and now will possibly face fines.

"Untreated urban wastewater is a threat to European citizens and detrimental to the environmental quality of Europe's rivers, lakes and coastal waters. I urge France to act swiftly; otherwise, the EC will consider asking the court to impose fines," said Stavros Dimas, EC environment commissioner.

Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive
Larger towns and cities across the EU are required to collect and treat their wastewater under the EU Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (directive 91/271/EEC).

Since untreated wastewater can be contaminated with harmful bacteria and viruses, it presents a risk to public health. It also contains nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorous, which can damage freshwaters and the marine environment by promoting excessive growth of algae, choking off other life in a process known as eutrophication.

The main type of wastewater treatment envisaged by the directive is biological or "secondary" treatment. The deadline for this infrastructure to be operational was Dec. 31, 2000. If wastewater is discharged into "sensitive" water bodies, the directive requires stricter "tertiary" treatment, involving removal of phosphorous and/or nitrogen. This should have been in place by Dec. 31, 1998.

Final warning for France
The EC is sending France a final warning for failing to comply with a 2004 European Court of Justice ruling on the treatment of urban wastewater in certain sensitive areas.

Under the ruling, the ECJ condemned France for failing to designate 11 areas as sensitive and for inadequate treatment facilities in a number of settlements that discharge their wastewaters into these areas. (The directive uses the technical term "agglomeration," which means an area where the population and/or economic activities are sufficiently concentrated for urban wastewater to be collected and conducted to an urban wastewater treatment plant or to a final discharge point.)

The ECJ also found that 121 settlements breached the directive by discharging their wastewaters into previously designated sensitive areas.

In 2006, France designated the 11 areas as sensitive. However, 140 settlements - including the city of Paris - continue to discharge into these sensitive areas. With regard to the 121 settlements discharging into the previously designated sensitive areas, France proceeded to rearrange them into 164 settlements, resulting in some settlements no longer meeting the threshold level of 10,000 residents to which the directive applies.

The EC considered such a rearrangement of settlements to avoid compliance with the directive unacceptable and called on France to implement the directive in all settlements covered by the ECJ ruling.

In May 2007, France notified the EC of the settlements' status and its agenda for complying with the ruling. It appears that some remaining settlements will not be equipped with wastewater treatment facilities before 2011, some seven years after the ECJ court ruling and 12 years after the deadline set by the directive.

The EC maintains this delay is deplorable and urges France to build wastewater treatment facilities in all concerned settlements as soon as possible. Should France not respond satisfactorily to its warning, the EC may ask the court to impose fines on France.

Legal process
Article 226 of the treaty by which the EU was formed gives the EC powers to take legal action against a member state that is not respecting its obligations.

If the EC considers that there may be a violation of EU law that warrants the opening of an infringement procedure, it addresses a Letter of Formal Notice (first written warning) to the member state concerned, requesting it to submit its observations by a specified date, usually two months.

In the light of the reply or absence of a reply from the member state concerned, the EC may decide to address a Reasoned Opinion (final written warning) to the member state. This clearly and definitively sets out the reasons why it considers there to have been an infringement of EU law, and calls upon the member state to comply within a specified period, usually two months.

If the member state fails to comply with the Reasoned Opinion, the EC may decide to bring the case before the European Court of Justice. If that court finds that the treaty has been infringed, the offending member state is required to take the measures necessary to conform.

Article 228 of the treaty gives the EC power to act against a member state that does not comply with a previous judgement of the Court of Justice of the European Communities. The article also allows the EC to ask the court to impose a financial penalty on the member state concerned.

Further information
For more information, see the EU web site on Infringements of EU law.

Source: European Commission.