Activities of Marco AFFRONTE related to 2014/2239(INI)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the follow-up to the European Citizens’ Initiative Right2Water PDF (221 KB) DOC (179 KB)
Amendments (22)
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 13 a (new)
Citation 13 a (new)
- having regard to the European Environment Agency's and its "Report on the European environment: State and outlook 2015",
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 (new)
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 (new)
stresses that - The EU-wide public consultation launched in June 2014 could not possibly represent the real situation across EU given that almost half of the 5.908 answers came from just one country (namely Germany), - The Commission did not guarantee that Water and sanitation services will be excluded from the TTIP negotiations and it did not clearly affirmed that water and water sanitation should not be approached with market-based point of view; - The alleged European Commission´s neutrality regarding the ownership and the management of water seems to be contradictory with the privatisation programmes imposed to some Member States by the Troika
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas, as stated in the EEA's 2015 report on the state of the environment , more than 40% of rivers and coastal waters are affected by a widespread pollution caused by agriculture, while between 20% and 25% are subjected to pollution deriving from point sources as industrial structures, sewage systems and waste-water management networks;
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas, as stated in the EEA's 2015 report on the state of the environment, leakages from pipes in Europe loss rates currently amount to between 10% and 40%;
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses that an ECI is an important tool for making citizens’ voices heardthe only tool that EU citizens have at their disposal to influence directly the European Commission in the legislative procedure and that an admissible and appropriate ECI should in principle result in a new Commission legislative proposal that respects the demand as set out in the ECI, at least when the Commission has committed itself to doing so, as in the case of the ECI R2W;
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 (new)
Paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 (new)
highlights, therefore, that providing an insufficient answer to the first successful ECI could be detrimental for the reliability of the ECI as a tool of democracy among EU citizens;
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Recalls the obligaStresses that there is a remarkable number of petitions to guarantehat highlight several issues in the access to justice and, information in environmental matters, and public participation in decision-making, as laid down in the Aarhus Convention; calls on, therefore, on the European Commission, the Member States and their regional and local authorities to comply with the principles and the rights enshrined in the Aarhus Convention; reminds that the citizens’ awareness of their rights is fundamental in order to achieve their largest participation in the decision- making process; therefore urges the Commission to proactively set up a campaign to inform EU citizens about the achievements of the Convention in the field of transparency and the effective tools already at their disposal, and to fulfil the provisions referring to the EU institutions;
Amendment 30 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 – subparagraph 1 (new)
Paragraph 4 – subparagraph 1 (new)
considers that many of the petitions concerning water quality and water management come from Member States which are not well-represented in the scope of the EU-wide public consultation launched in June 2014, and therefore stresses that there could be an inconsistency between the result of the public consultation and the situation highlighted by petitions;
Amendment 36 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Urges the Commission to take the citizens’ concerns and warnings in such petitions seriously and to act upon them, in particular when there is still time to prevent pollution and mismanagement; expresses its concern about the remarkable number of infringement procedures concerning water quality and water management and highlights the great number of petitions focussing on these issues;
Amendment 41 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls on the Commission to draw up binding legislation to ensure that all information on water quality and water management is made available by the competent authorities to the citizens concerned in an easily accessible and understandable form, and that citizens are fully informed in good time about any water-management projects so that they can be consulted and get involved; considers, moreover, that in the public consultation launched by the Commission, the 80% of the participants considered essential an improvement in the water quality monitoring transparency;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 – point 1 (new)
Paragraph 3 – point 1 (new)
(1) Points out that the EU-wide public consultation on the quality of drinking water in the EU, performed between June and September 2014 as one of the actions announced in the communication, could not possibly represent the real situation across the EU given that almost half of the 5.908 answers came from one country (Germany);
Amendment 46 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Calls on the Member States to complete their River Basin Management Plans as a matter of urgency and to implement them properly with full respect for the overriding ecological criteria; furthermore recalls that each Member State shall have a central webpage to provide information on the implementation of the Water Framework Directive in order to facilitate an overview of the water management and quality;
Amendment 51 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Calls on the Commission to carefully monitor the use of EU direct and indirect funding for water- management projects and to ensure that such funding is used only for projects for which it was intended, also considering that access to water is pivotal in reducing disparities between EU citizens and in enhancing the economic, social and territorial cohesion in the EU.
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 – point 1 (new)
Paragraph 6 – point 1 (new)
(1) Stresses that access to a basic water requirement should be a non-debatable fundamental human right implicitly and explicitly supported by international law. Calls on Governments and local communities to work for providing a minimum water quota, as guarantee that water is an inalienable component of fundamental rights;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to address the lack of available data on water poverty issues, including issues of access and affordability; Urges the Commission and the Member States to encourage individual governments of developing countries to guarantee basic water needs of their populations, given that water is a limited resource and local populations lack access to safe drinking water;
Amendment 83 #
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, especially for the purpose of extending water and sanitation services to the poor; Stresses the importance of open, democratic and participatory governance to ensure that the most cost-effective solutions with regard to water resources management are taken for the benefit of the whole society; calls on the Commission and Member States to ensure full transparency as regards the use and destination of the economic resources generated through the water management cycle.
Amendment 191 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Encourages water companies to reinvest all economic revenues generated from the water management cycle into maintaining and improving water services and protecting water resources; Calls on Member States to refrain from adopting measures that divert economic resources from the water sector of finance other policies;
Amendment 227 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 – point 1 (new)
Paragraph 21 – point 1 (new)
(1) Climate change is producing a strong impact in access and availability of water. Urges to include, among the topics of COP21, a strategic management of water resources and a long-term adaptation plans, in order to incorporate a climate resilient water approach in the future global climate agreement; Climate resilient water infrastructure is also key for development and poverty reduction;
Amendment 235 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Recalls that the World Health Organisation has stated that between 100 and 200 litres of water per day per person is optimal, while noting that 50 to 100 litres is needed to ensure that basic needs are met and few health concerns arise; Accordingly to the recognised fundamental human rights, establishing a minimum quota per person is indispensable to satisfy basic water needs of populations;
Amendment 242 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 – point 1 (new)
Paragraph 23 – point 1 (new)
(1) Reminds that ensuring a sustainable protection of natural areas such as freshwater ecosystems is also key for development and decisive to provide drinking water supplies;
Amendment 243 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 – point 2 (new)
Paragraph 23 – point 2 (new)
(2) Calls on the Commission to take all the necessary steps to monitor and assess the impact of oil extraction and oil exploration on human health and the environment, in particular the impact of inland extraction on the quality of water intended for human consumption;
Amendment 246 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 – point 1 (new)
Paragraph 24 – point 1 (new)
(1) Calls on the Member States to: - Provide an obligation for water suppliers to indicate physicochemical characteristics of the water in the water bill; - Draft urban plans according to the availability of water resources. - Increasing controls and monitoring of pollutants, and plan immediate actions aimed at the removal and sanitation of toxic substances. - Insists for take action to reduce the considerable leakages from pipes in Europe renewing the inadequate water supply networks;