Activities of Claude TURMES related to 2014/2239(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Follow up to the European citizens' initiative Right2Water (short presentation) DE
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the follow-up to the European Citizens’ Initiative Right2Water PDF (221 KB) DOC (179 KB)
Amendments (32)
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas the human right to water and sanitation encompasses the dimensions of availability, accessibility, acceptability, affordability and quality;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas the absence of adequate water and sanitation has a serious impact on health and social development, especially for children; whereas the contamination of water resources is a major cause of diarrhoea, the second biggest killer of children in developing countries, and leads to other major diseases such as cholera, schistosomiasis, and trachoma;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Calls on the Commission to maintain and confirm the exclusion of water and sanitation services from the Concessions Directive in any eventual review of this directive;
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Considers it regrettable that the cCommunicationission's answer to the ECI lacks any real ambition and limits itself to reiterating existing commitments;
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls on the Commission, in line with the primary objective of the Right2Water ECI, to coming forward withintroduce in a mandatory way into forthcoming legislative proposals – including a possible revision of the WFD and of the Drinking Water Directive – that woulde recognisetion of universal access and the human right to water, and considers it regrettable that this has not been done to date; believes that if the Commission fails to do so, the ECI will lose credibility as a democratic mechanism in the eyes of citizens;
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls on the Commission to recognise the importance of the human right to water and sanitation and of water as a public good and a fundamental value for all EU citizens; expresses its concern that due to overstretched austerity policies which have increased poverty in Europe and the number of low-income households, an increasing number of people are facing difficulties in paying their water bills and that affordability is becoming a matter of growing concern;
Amendment 92 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to support public water companies in the EU which lack the necessary capital, to access available EU funding and long-term loans at a preferential interest rate, as well as to technical assistance, especially for the purpose of extending water and sanitation services to the poor and ensuring good quality;
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Highlights the importance of full and effective implementation of the WFD and the Drinking Water Directive; is concerned that the Union sectorial policy instruments do not sufficiently contribute to achieve the environmental quality standards for priority substances and the phasing-out objective for discharges, emissions and losses of priority hazardous substances in accordance with point (a) of Article 4(1) and Article 16(6) of Directive 2000/60/EC;
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 b (new)
Paragraph 8 b (new)
8b. Considers that the Drinking Water Directive has greatly contributed to the availability of high-quality drinking water across the EU and calls for decisive action by the Commission and the Member States to realise the environmental and health benefits available from favouring tap water consumption;
Amendment 99 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 c (new)
Paragraph 8 c (new)
8c. Calls for more proactive measures for saving water resources and substantially increasing water use efficiency across all sectors (industries, households, agriculture, distribution networks);
Amendment 100 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 d (new)
Paragraph 8 d (new)
8d. Recalls the conclusions of the special report on the integration of EU water policy objectives with the Common Agricultural Policy carried out by the European Court of Auditors, which state that "the instruments currently used by the CAP to address water concerns have so far not managed to achieve sufficient progress towards the policy targets set in the relevant European water legislation"; believes that better integration of water policy with other policies, such as agriculture, is essential in order to improve water quality across Europe;
Amendment 101 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 e (new)
Paragraph 8 e (new)
8e. Considers it necessary to establish a priority order or hierarchy for sustainable water use; calls on the Commission to come forward with analysis and proposals as appropriate;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Stresses that support for the Right2Water ECI and its objectives has been further demonstrated by the large numbers of citizens in countries such as Germany, GreeceAustria, Belgium, Slovakia, Slovenia, Greece, Finland, Spain, Luxembourg, Italy and Ireland who have spoken out on the issue of water and its ownership and provision;
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Recalls that the European Union and its institutions have a duty to make a positive contribution to sustainable development, not only through their political role and their role in legislative procedures, but also in the context of how they operate and the decisions that they make on a day-to-day basis; therefore calls all European institutions, in the context of the eco-management and audit scheme (EMAS), to end free distribution of bottled water on their own facilities and promote tap water by installing water fountains and carafes in all the meeting rooms;
Amendment 107 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 2 a (new)
Subheading 2 a (new)
The right to clean water
Amendment 108 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Recalls that cross compliance under the CAP sets out statutory management requirements (SMRs) based on existing EU laws relevant to farmers and rules of Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions (GAEC), including on water; farmers must abide by these rules in order to receive full CAP payments;
Amendment 109 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 b (new)
Paragraph 9 b (new)
9b. Notes however that this has not been enough to prevent agricultural pollution and that consequently EU citizens continue to pay the externalised costs of agricultural water pollution, through budgets of the Member States and the EU, and through water purification costs passed on to them via their water bills;
Amendment 110 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 c (new)
Paragraph 9 c (new)
9c. Calls for practices and CAP measures ensuring closed loop nutrient cycling and good management of soils; points out that misplaced dependency on pesticides and synthetic fertilisers is responsible for much water pollution yet that these would not be needed if soils were kept alive, healthy and biologically diverse and if farmers followed sound agronomic practices; further points out that the intensive production of meat is a cause of water pollution;
Amendment 111 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 d (new)
Paragraph 9 d (new)
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 e (new)
Paragraph 9 e (new)
9e. Considers that the best way to ensure coherence of water policies is through full implementation of the WFD; this would enable coherent water protection to be tailored to the specific needs of EU territories, via the River Basin Management Plans;
Amendment 113 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 f (new)
Paragraph 9 f (new)
Amendment 114 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 g (new)
Paragraph 9 g (new)
9g. Therefore calls upon all Member States to rapidly find farm-specific rules applicable for the WFD; notes that since Cross Compliance was introduced after the CAP reform of 2003, farmers have had to abide by rules linked to agricultural pollution of water to receive full payment under the CAP for a very long time; (Specifically the Nitrates Directive, the Sewage Sludge Directive (taken out of cross compliance as the obligation was for water companies rather than farmers), the Groundwater Directive (expired but maintained in the cross compliance rules for continuity))
Amendment 115 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 h (new)
Paragraph 9 h (new)
9h. Notes that the 2nd stage of the implementation of the River Basin Management Plans will be finished by the end of 2015, and further that the Commission will be in a good position to see if Member States have farm- applicable rules, in time for the mid-term review of the CAP in 2017; realises that the application of such rules will be differentiated, as situations and environmental need will differ between drainage basins; but considers that where rules applicable for farmers exist in the RBMP, these should be abided by;
Amendment 116 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 i (new)
Paragraph 9 i (new)
9i. Therefore also calls on the Commission to finalize and present its assessment on current and future implementation of the Sustainable Use of Pesticides Directive in the CAP;
Amendment 136 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Stresses that all aspects, i.e. production, distribution and treatment of water and sanitation services should be removed from any trade agreements the EU is negotiating and urges the Commission to grant a legally binding exclusion for water services in the ongoing negotiations for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership and the Trade in Services Agreement;
Amendment 146 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Stresses that water and wastewater services must be excluded from any trade agreement;
Amendment 150 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 b (new)
Paragraph 13 b (new)
13b. Stresses that production, distribution and treatment of water and sanitation services must remain excluded from the Concession Directive also in any future revision of the directive;
Amendment 157 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Highlights the success of public-public partnerships in exchanging best practice in water provision, calls on the Commission, therefore, to promote this form of non- profit cooperation among public water operators, and welcomes the Commission’s recognition for the first time, in the communication, of the importance of public-public partnerships;
Amendment 193 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. EncourageDemands water companies to reinvest all economic revenues generated from the water management cycle into maintaining and improving water services and protecting water resources;
Amendment 206 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)
Paragraph 19 a (new)
19a. Regrets that the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive is still not fully implemented in the Member States; calls for Union financial resources to be deployed as priority in areas where EU environmental legislation is not respected, including wastewater treatment; notes that compliance rates have proven to be higher where costs were recovered and the ‘polluter pays’ principle has been implemented and calls for the Commission to review the adequacy of current instruments to deliver a high level of protection and improvement of the quality of the environment;
Amendment 229 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)
Paragraph 21 a (new)
21a. Strongly supports the inclusion of the goal of ensuring safe drinking water and adequate sanitation and hygiene for all by 2030 among the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be adopted in September 2015;
Amendment 232 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 b (new)
Paragraph 21 b (new)
21b. Calls for the allocation of Union and Member State funds to reflect the recommendations of the UN Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation, in particular regarding favouring small- scale infrastructure and allocating more funds to operation and maintenance, capacity building and awareness-raising;