STRASBOURG - EU lawmakers called on Tuesday for tighter rules to control pollution of Europe's groundwater but fell short of agreeing bloc-wide standards for maximum levels of toxic metals such as mercury and arsenic.
The MEPs signed up to single European standards for nitrates and pesticides, although environmental groups complained that the draft legislation still offered too many loopholes that could lead to drinking water becoming contaminated.
The bill aims to update a law dating from 1980 and will return to EU ministers for final discussion, in agreement with the European Parliament. Among other things, it seeks to bring varying EU methods for measuring potential pollutants into line.
"Groundwater is our most important natural resource," said German conservative MEP Christa Klass, who steered the amended bill through the EU assembly.
"Over half of the EU's groundwater sources are polluted. Once polluted, they can no longer be cleaned up. Hence the importance of protecting them," she said.
For around 10 substances, particularly toxic metals such as arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury, EU governments will retain responsibility to set maximum thresholds in groundwater, which they must do by the end of 2008 at the latest.
These national standards chosen would be reviewed five years after the revised law entered into force, in theory in 2011 if all legal procedures run as expected, officials say. There would be an overall efficiency assessment of the new law by 2015.
Where the rules on nitrates and pesticides required changes to farming practices, MEPs suggested giving financial aid via the EU's Common Agricultural Policy -- a proposal that is likely to face strong opposition from a number of EU governments.
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
