EUROPEAN COMMISSION - PRESS RELEASE
Environment: Commission asks Italy to transpose
water legislation correctly
Brussels, 22 March 2012 – Italy is failing to comply with EU legislation on water
protection. The shortcomings relate to various aspects of the integration of the
Water Framework Directive (WFD) into national law. On the recommendation of
Environment Commissioner Janez Potočnik, the Commission is sending a
reasoned opinion. If Italy fails to reply within two months, or its reply is deemed
unsatisfactory, the Commission may refer the case to the EU Court of Justice.
The Water Framework Directive provides the basis for managing and protecting
Europe's waters. It obliges Member States to create and maintain "river basin
management plans", which contain detailed accounts of how the ecological,
quantitive and chemical objectives set for river basins are to be reached within an
agreed timescale.
Italy has failed to transpose a number of WFD Articles correctly, including the need
to put in place a number of measures to achieve the "good status" objectives set for
river basins before the agreed deadline and the requirement to keep an updated
register of protected areas.
The Commission also has concerns about Italy's transposition of Annex II of the
Directive, which covers the characterisation of surface and ground waters. The
transposition of Annex V, which concerns monitoring of the status of surface and
ground waters is also lacking certain aspects, including the requirements to monitor
the discharge of extra water into groundwater bodies, and to provide maps with the
characteristics specified in the Directive to describe the chemical levels and
amounts of water per groundwater body.
The deadline to transpose the Directive expired in December 2003, but at this time
Italy had not adopted laws to meet the Directive's requirements (IP/07/933).
Although Italy has since transposed the Directive, a conformity check carried out by
the Commission in 2009 identified several shortcomings and non-conformity issues
and in May 2010 the Commission sent a letter of formal notice. As Italy's replies
and subsequent amendments to national legislation do not satisfy all of the
Commission's concerns, a reasoned opinion is now being sent.
IP/12/292
Background
The Water Framework Directive, which came into force in 2000, provides a
framework for Member States to manage water resources in an integrated way in
river basin districts across the European Union. All Member States have
undertaken the commitment to protect and restore all bodies of ground water and
surface water (rivers, lakes, canals and coastal water) so that river basin districts
achieve "good status" by 2015 at the latest.
Instead of administrative or political boundaries, the natural geographical and
hydrological units of river basins are used as the best basis from which to manage
water systems. For each river basin district a "river basin management plan" is
established and updated every six years.
For current statistics on infringements in general see:
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/legal/implementation_en.htm
See also:
More details on water policy:
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/index_en.htm
Details on implementation of river basin management plans in Italy:
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/participation/map_mc/countries/italy_en.htm
MEMO/12/200
Contacts :
Robert Flies (+32 2 295 35 93)
Monica Westeren (+32 2 299 18 30)
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