70. 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 a 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;

70. 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 a 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;

70. 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 a 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;

37. Calls on the Commission and Member States to ensure the application of the ‘polluter pays’ and ‘user pays’ principles by means of transparent and effective pricing schemes implemented in all water-using sectors that aim at the recovery of the costs of water services, including environmental and resource costs, as set down in the Water Framework Directive; underlines however that social issues should be taken into account when setting water tariffs and that clean water should be available at an affordable price for human needs; furthermore, calls on the Commission and the Member States to assess and revise subsidies harmful for water and to develop and introduce further economic instruments to reduce environmentally-detrimental activit ...[+++]y and incentivise more sustainable use of water resources; stresses that water pricing should reflect the environmental impact of wastewater treatment; notes that, although the political will exists, the economic crisis and restrictions on public spending make it difficult for local and regional authorities to finance greywater treatment projects and therefore calls on the Commission to ensure appropriate financing of wastewater treatment plants; calls on the Commission to develop a strategy for internalising the external costs incurred through water consumption, water pollution and wastewater treatment;

37. Calls on the Commission and Member States to ensure the application of the ‘polluter pays’ and ‘user pays’ principles by means of transparent and effective pricing schemes implemented in all water-using sectors that aim at the recovery of the costs of water services, including environmental and resource costs, as set down in the Water Framework Directive; underlines however that social issues should be taken into account when setting water tariffs and that clean water should be available at an affordable price for human needs; furthermore, calls on the Commission and the Member States to assess and revise subsidies harmful for water and to develop and introduce further economic instruments to reduce environmentally-detrimental activit ...[+++]y and incentivise more sustainable use of water resources; stresses that water pricing should reflect the environmental impact of wastewater treatment; notes that, although the political will exists, the economic crisis and restrictions on public spending make it difficult for local and regional authorities to finance greywater treatment projects and therefore calls on the Commission to ensure appropriate financing of wastewater treatment plants; calls on the Commission to develop a strategy for internalising the external costs incurred through water consumption, water pollution and wastewater treatment;

Directive 91/271/EEC – urban wastewater treatment