The UK water industry is required under European law to comply with a number of directives. Approximately 80% of the water industry’s legislation comes from the European Parliament.
Directives apply to all countries in the European Union and provide a common framework for stewardship of our environment and social considerations.
In particular, the environmental directives that the UK water industry abides by aim to preserve, protect and improve the quality of the environment, protect human health, prudently and rationally utilise natural resources and promote measures at international level to deal with regional or worldwide environmental problems.
The European Court of Justice has held that European Community law has priority over national law. Directives are known as secondary law. They are binding as to the results to be achieved, but the means of implementation and transposition into national laws are a matter for each EU member state.
Who makes the directives?
Directives come into play once the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers pass a law.
The European Commission initiates the legislation by sending draft legislation or proposals to the European Parliament, with its elected MEPs, and the Council, which has one or more representatives from each EU country, using a decision-making process called co-decision procedure. In practice, this process can be quite drawn out and usually involves three readings followed by a conciliation.
How are directives transposed into domestic law?
Once a directive is passed by the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers, each country usually has two years to transpose the directive into their country’s legal system. This stage is necessary to allow time to align the European directive with relevant laws within each member state. For example, in England the European Communities Act allows ministers to incorporate directives into English law by means of regulations.
Which directives govern the UK water industry?
The directives that impact on the water industry are largely concerned with protecting the environment, both on land and in the sea. However, there are a number of other directives that affect the industry.
The major directives influencing the water industry are as follows:
• Water Framework Directive
• Drinking Water Directive
• Environmental Liability Directive
• Waste Framework Directive
• Ground Water Directive
• Marine Strategy Directive
• Soil Framework Directive
• Bathing Water Directive
• Pesticides Directive
• Directive on European Quality Standards in the Field of Water Policy and Amending Directive 2000/60/EC
• Sewage Sludge Directive
• IPPC Directive (Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control)
Water UK role in the EU policy-making and legislative processes
Water UK is actively engaged in the process throughout the negotiations both in the European Union and in the UK to ensure that the EU water-related legislation is sustainable and proportionate.
