Text adopted on 9.4.92

The European Parliament,

A. whereas the Meuse is an international waterway, crossing three Member States and adding to the pollution in the North Sea,

B. having regard to Directive 80/778/EEC on the quality of water intended for human consumption and the fact that 5 million people in Belgium and the Netherlands are supplied with drinking water from the Meuse,

C. whereas Directive 75/440/EEC on the protection of surface waters stipulates that by 1995 all waste water discharged into streams and rivers must be purified,

D. whereas at the most recent ministerial Conference on the North Sea in The Hague far-reaching agreements were signed regarding efforts to lower pollution levels in the Meuse,

E. whereas a considerable amount of domestic, agricultural and industrial waste is discharged into the Meuse in each of the countries through which it passes,

F. having regard to the large number of 'accidents' which have led to serious pollution in the last few years, the most recent of which occurred in January 1992 when the use of water from the Meuse for drinking purposes had to be stopped in the Netherlands for several weeks because of the discharge of large quantities of aniline, pyridine and methyl-pyridine,

G. whereas more than 10 years of negotiations between Belgium and the Netherlands have not yet led to the ratification of the Schelde-Meuse treaties, despite the fact that the continuing deterioration of the quality of the water in the Meuse makes the situation increasingly urgent,

1. Reminds the Member States concerned that they are required to comply with Community law on the protection of the environment and calls on the Commission to use every means available to ensure that the relevant EC directives are complied with;

2. Calls, therefore, on the Commission and the states through which the Meuse flows to improve the water quality of the river and its catchment area so that fish caught in the Meuse may once again be edible and its water drinkable;

3. Believes that, in view of the failure of bilateral negotiations, a supranational authority must help set up an international agency for the Meuse basin which would ensure overall, coordinated management of the river's water quality, and finally settle the delicate question of the funding needed to improve the river's water quality;

4. Calls on the Commission, therefore, to gather all the information available on the problems involved in improving the quality of the water in the Meuse and to initiate a strategy aimed at restoring the waters of the Meuse to the highest quality;

5. Calls on the Commission also to ensure that Community funds, and in particular the Structural Funds and Community initiatives, help to achieve the objective of restoring the quality of the water in the Meuse;

6. Calls on the Commission to cooperate actively in preventive measures to avoid accidental pollution;

7. Calls on the Commission to encourage the Member States in question to develop a financial programme for the conversion of industrial undertakings to cleaner technologies;

8. Calls on the states bordering the Meuse to invest forthwith in the necessary water purification installations in the catchment area of the Meuse;

9. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the Member States and the regions concerned.