The European Commission has opened a file against Spain for not having reviewed, adopted and reported on time the water management plans for all its river basins. These had to be sent to Brussels before the end of 2022. The file affects the Generalitat, which has not yet approved the hydrological planning of the Catalan internal basins for the period 2022-2027. The other two non-compliant communities are Andalucía and Canarias.
Due to this ruling, "the European Commission has already warned us that we are not complying with the directive," Hugo Morán, Secretary of State for the Environment, told La Vanguardia.
The Water Directive obliges member states to review and update their water management plans every six years. This is a legal requirement aimed at achieving full ecological recovery of rivers, lakes and underground reserves, and organizing water services. The new planning cycle should cover the period 2022-2027.
However, once the submission period has expired, the European Commission has sent a letter of formal notice to Spain recalling the breach.
The central government, in turn, has transmitted the reprimand to the Generalitat and the other two communities involved, and has warned them that "if we do not comply, this may give rise, at a certain moment, to a file of infringement of the European Commission”, recalls the Secretary of State.
Morán also warns "of the consequences of the infringement file" and that these "will logically be passed on to non-compliant territories: we are not going to show solidarity with them in general," he adds.
"It is disappointing that the Generalitat has not approved this planning," say experts consulted, who detect here a symptom of "inefficient management." Catalonia was the first community to present these plans in the first cycle (2010-2015) and was also punctual in delivering the second (2016-2021).
The opening of the file is the first stage in the community infringement procedures and opens a consultation period to try to resolve the deficiencies identified. If the response is not favorable, Brussels could send a reasoned opinion, which is an ultimatum before moving on to the final stage of the file, which is the complaint before the Court of Justice of the EU.
The hope is that such an extreme situation will not be reached. "These three communities tell us that these plans are in the final stretch and that they will send it to us shortly," adds Hugo Morán.
Sources from the Government of the Generalitat indicated that the Catalan River Basin District Management Plan (its technical name) "is in the final processing phase" and that the forecast is that it will be approved in the second half of June. And, "once this procedure is completed, it will be sent to Madrid". They also offload responsibility on the previous management of the Catalan Water Agency.
“This Government has been the one that started this process in August 2021, just three months after the start of the legislature. If it had to be approved by 2022, the previous management of the ACA should have started its processing much earlier, ”they justify themselves.
The plan must pass the procedures of the Legal Advisory Commission (which since March 7th has three months to issue an opinion) and the Technical Council before being approved by the Government.
The new 2022-2027 planning provides for a new desalination plant in Blanes, to initiate studies for the Foix (Cubelles) desalination plant and to promote 25 regeneration plants to reuse purified water for various uses. In addition, it is planned to increase the exploitation of the groundwater of the Besòs river by expanding the current water treatment station on the right bank (Trinity), more wells, the first direct catchment to make surface water of the Besòs potable and to continue the reuse of the waters of the Llobregat, among other performances.
In the whole of Spain, all the hydrological plans of state competence (rivers that cross several communities) are prepared, as well as the competence plans of Galicia and the Balearic Islands. And only those of Catalonia, Andalusia (the Andalusian Junta has powers over small internal basins) and the Canary Islands are missing. The EU has also expedited Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Lithuania, Malta, Portugal, Romania and Slovenia for the same.
