EU water charges are voted down

Members of the European Parliament have voted down controversial amendments to an EU Water Directive which could have forced the Irish Government to reintroduce water charges.

The European Council of Ministers had recommended to the parliament that the directive contain a clause to the effect that "governments should take cognisance of the need to recover costs" in the supply and treatment of clean water for domestic, agricultural and industrial uses.

However, the MEPs tabled a number of amendments, including some from the Green group which could have severe implications for the operation of the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing facility in Cumbria, and others which defeated the principle that domestic water charges should be paid for by all domestic users.

One of the leading figures in voting down the domestic charges issue was the Leinster MEP, Ms Avril Doyle, who suggested that a blanket charge for domestic users would create political and practical difficulties for governments. In the debate she raised the question of the ability to pay and the possibility that some households would be exempt or partially exempt.

"We in the EPP party in the parliament are the largest grouping, and I was able, with the aid of the Spanish, who opposed it for their own reasons, to convince the party to vote down that particular section," Ms Doyle said after the vote.

"As a result member-states will still have to take cognisance of the need to recover costs, but it will be up to the individual governments to decide how best that can be done."

The Dublin MEP, Mr Proinsias De Rossa, also welcomed the European Parliament's decision to block obligatory domestic water charges. In the debate he said water was "essential to life itself, and people must have free access to sufficient quantities for normal daily life. The parliament's decision aims to ensure that no charge for water can be imposed through European legislation."

The Green MEP, Ms Patricia McKenna, also succeeded in her backing of changes in the directive. The key change here is that all hazardous substances are to be eliminated from water by being phased out within 20 years.

"The parliament also voted to include radioactive substances in the list of pollutants and also voted for levels close to `zero' discharges by 2020. This could finally put an end to discharges from Sellafield in the Irish Sea," she said. "The result of the vote shows that parliament is not willing to accept a weak approach to water protection."

The issue now goes to conciliation between the parliament and the Council of Ministers, but Ms McKenna said she hoped that, given the strength of feeling in the parliament, the council would accept the decisions.