Agreement reached on groundwater protection 

The Parliament and the EU Council of Ministers struck an agreement on the proposed Groundwater Directive on 18 October, at the end of a last-resort conciliation procedure. 

The directive aims to prevent the pollution of groundwater, Europe’s main drinking resource, from agricultural residues such as pesticides and other harmful chemicals. The joint text for a new Groundwater Directive must now be adopted by both Parliament’s full assembly and the Council before becoming EU law.

The agreement provides a legally binding obligation for member states to prevent the input of hazardous chemicals into groundwater and reasserts a limit for nitrate residue levels at 50mg per litre, a standard previously laid down in a 1991 directive on nitrates. Although most national governments have this limit in place, the EEB asserts that the new legislation will help ensure that all countries meet their obligations. 

National governments were initially against both provisions, and thus the outcome was welcomed by environmental groups. 

EEB’s EU Policy Director Stefan Scheuer praised the Parliament’s contribution: “Members of the European Parliament have successfully fought off attempts by governments to re-nationalise groundwater protection. They ensured that preventing pollution and achieving quality standards is robust and legally-binding.” 

“Groundwater is a unique but still little-understood ecosystem, which provides important ‘self-cleaning’ functions and hosts many species. The agreement of Parliament and Council acknowledges this and encourages further research,” commented Doris Eberhardt of BUND, a German environmental NGO.

The European Fertilisers Manufacturers Association was not available for detailed comment, but Director-General Esa Härmälä said he believed that the biggest misunderstandings had been cleared from the final text.