WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3156/97 by Esko SEPPÄNEN to the Commission. Inadequacy of EU environmental standards; final destination of untreated waste water from EU buildings
30. 4. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 134/99 (98/C 134/126) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3154/97 by Mark Watts (PSE) to the Commission (13 October 1997) Subject: Genetically modified rape seed Can the Commission please indicate the latest position regarding experiments in genetically modified rape seed and when and where the results of these experiments will be made available to the general public? Answer given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission (12 November 1997) Under Directive 90/220/EEC on the deliberate release into the environment of genetically modified organisms (1), a consent is required before research and development releases of genetically modified plants can proceed. The operation of the consent system for these releases is undertaken at the Member State level by a competent authority appointed under the Directive. The Commission is not involved in this process, but is kept informed by the competent authority by way of a summary of each notification which it also circulates to all other Member States. The Commission has to the end of September 1997, been informed of 251 such releases from Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Spain, France, Netherlands, Finland, Sweden and United Kingdom, involving oilseed rape. Notifiers undertaking releases are required, under Article 8 of the Directive, to send to the competent authority the result of the release in respect of any risk to human health and the environment. There is no requirement in the Directive for Member States to make these reports available to the general public. Some Member States, including the United Kingdom, do make such reports available to the public through nominated enquiry points. Members of the public wishing to obtain information on the results of the releases of oilseed rape, in respect of risks to human health and the environment, would have to request the information from the relevant contact point in the Member State concerned, a list of which is sent directly to the Honourable Member and to Parliamentís Secretariat. (1) OJ L 117, 8. 5. 1990. (98/C 134/127) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3156/97 by Esko Seppa¤nen (GUE/NGL) to the Commission (13 October 1997) Subject: Inadequacy of EU environmental standards; final destination of untreated waste water from EU buildings The EUís environmental standards are inadequate. It is intolerable that the waste water of the city of Brussels, for example, can flow untreated into the river and thence into the sea. Is the Commission aware of these problems and does it plan any measures to reduce the polluting effect on the North Sea of, inter alia, the waste water from EU buildings? Answer given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission (13 November 1997) Council Directive 91/271/EEC of 21 May 1991 concerning urban waste-water treatment (1) requires Member States to introduce a system of collection and treatment of urban waste water in all agglomerations with a population equivalent (p. e. ) of more than 2 000 (the population equivalent is a unit of measurement frequently used to measure the level of pollution in waste water; it is the organic load from any one person in a day). The final date for introducing these facilities is 31 December 1998, 31 December 2000 or 31 December 2005, depending on the size of the agglomeration and the sensitivity of the aquatic environment into which the waste water is discharged after treatment