28 Amendments of Lynn BOYLAN related to 2014/2239(INI)
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 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 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 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Calls on Member States to support the promotion of education and awareness raising campaigns for citizens in order to preserve and save water resources and to ensure greater civic participation;
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 161 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Urges the Commission to support and facilitate non-profit cooperation amongst water operators to aid those in less developed and rural areas in order to support the access to good quality water for all citizens living in those areas;
Amendment 183 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17a. Calls on Member States to implement the figure of a water services Ombudsman in order to ensure that water-related issues such as complaints and suggestions on water service quality and access could be processed by an independent body;
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 196 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 b (new)
Paragraph 18 b (new)
18b. Notes the worrying state of infrastructure in some Member States, particularly where water is being wasted owing to leaks and the poor state of mains water pipes, and calls for greater investment and urgent measures to improve and modernise this infrastructure;
Amendment 207 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)
Paragraph 19 a (new)
19a. Points out that, in the case of water, the services sector offers a huge potential for creating jobs through environmental integration, and for fostering innovation through technology transfer between sectors and through RDI applied to the entire water cycle; calls, therefore, for particular attention to be paid to boosting the sustainable use of water as renewable energy;
Amendment 208 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)
Paragraph 19 a (new)
19a. Notes that any benchmarking exercise is not equivalent to transparency measures and providing full information to citizens; indicators produce often complex and confusing results which should be presented for citizens in an understandable manner;
Amendment 209 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 b (new)
Paragraph 19 b (new)
19b. Believes that given the wide variation amongst water services across Europe given the clear regional and local specificities, the Commission should not try to force operators to take part in any obligatory EU benchmarking exercise but should rather act as a facilitator for voluntary benchmarking amongst water operators and should be used as a means to facilitate cooperation amongst water operators via sharing of best practices and common experience;
Amendment 210 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 c (new)
Paragraph 19 c (new)
19c. Stresses that any benchmarking exercise which is undertaken must not only include financial indicators but must include other criteria crucial for citizens such as; water quality, measures to mitigate affordability problems, accessibility information on what proportion of the population has access to adequate water supplies and the levels of public participation in water governance;
Amendment 211 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 d (new)
Paragraph 19 d (new)
19d. Stresses the environmental necessity to conserve water resources whilst respecting the right of the Member States to choose how to fulfil their cost recovery obligations under the Water Framework Directive;
Amendment 212 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 e (new)
Paragraph 19 e (new)
19e. Encourages the Commission and Member States to enact policies that effectively combine and reconcile water resources protection objectives with cost- saving such as ‘control at source’ approaches and water saving communication strategies;
Amendment 213 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 f (new)
Paragraph 19 f (new)
19f. Urges the Commission, in any revision of the Water Framework Directive to ensure that quantitative assessments of water affordability problems become a mandatory requirement of reporting exercises by Member States as regards the implementation of the Water Framework Directive;
Amendment 214 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 g (new)
Paragraph 19 g (new)
19g. Asks the Commission to explore the possibility for the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) to monitor and report upon any water affordability issues in the 28 Member States;
Amendment 221 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Stresses that EU development policies should fully integrate universal access to water and sanitation via in their promotion ofgramming and enhance the public- public partnerships based on not- for-profit principles and solidarity between water operators and workers in different countries; reiterates that the development policies of EU Member States should recognise the human rights dimension of access to safe drinking water and sanitation and that a rights-based approach requires both support for legislative frameworks, financing and the strengthening of the voice of civil society in order to realise these rights in practice;
Amendment 222 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 a (new)
Paragraph 20 a (new)
20a. Underlines that assistance for safe drinking water and sanitation should be given high priority in the allocation of EU funds and in assistance programming; calls on the European Commission to ensure adequate financial support to capacity-development actions in the water domain, relying on and cooperating with existing international platforms and initiatives;
Amendment 226 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Stresses that although progress towards the Millennium Development Goal on safe drinking water is on track, almost one billion people are still drinking untreated drinking water, while the sanitation target is far from being met; reiterates that ending poverty through the post-2015 process is only possible if we ensure that everyone, everywhere has access to clean water, basic sanitation and hygiene;
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 228 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)
Paragraph 21 a (new)
21a. Emphasises that ambitious and far- reaching targets for water and sanitation should be included in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as it is water and sanitation issues that underpin nearly every other development indicator encompassed in the current and future development frameworks; stresses that targets should centre around basic or minimum access but also go beyond this towards more efficient, affordable and sustainable water and sanitation services;
Amendment 230 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)
Paragraph 21 a (new)
21a. Notes with concern that the lack of access to water and sanitation in the developing world can have a disproportionate effect on girls and women, especially those of school- attending age where absenteeism and drop-out rates have been linked to the lack of clean, safe and accessible sanitation;
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 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;