The European Commission has opened a file in Spain for not having reviewed, adopted and reported on time the water management plans of all its river basins. These plans 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 internal Catalan basins for the period 2022-2027. The other two non-compliant communities are Andalusia and the Canary Islands.
Because of this, "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 the full ecological recovery of rivers, lakes and underground reserves, and organizing water services. The new planning cycle must cover the period 2022-2027.
However, once the submission deadline has passed, the European Commission has sent a letter of formal notice to Spain reminding them of the breach. The Central Government, in turn, has sent the warning to the Generalitat and to the other two communities involved, and has warned them that "if we do not comply, this may give rise, at a given moment, to a case of infringement of the European Commission", recalls the Secretary of State. Morán also warns "of the consequences of the infringement case" and that "they will be logically reflected in the non-compliant territories: we will not show solidarity in general", he adds.
"It is very disappointing that the Generalitat has not approved this planning", point out experts, 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 period of consultations to try to resolve the deficiencies identified. If the answer was not favorable, Brussels could send a reasoned opinion, which is an ultimatum before proceeding to the final stage of the file, which is the complaint before the Court of Justice of the EU. The hope is that it will not reach such an extreme situation. "These three communities tell us that these plans are in the final stretch and that they will send it to us very soon", adds Hugo Morán.
Sources from the Government of the Generalitat indicated that the Catalonia River Basin District Management Plan (its technical name) "is in the final processing phase" and that it is expected to be approved in the second half of June. . And, "once this procedure is completed, it will be sent to Madrid". They also unload responsibility on the previous management of the Catalan Water Agency. "This Government was the one that started this process in August 2021, just three months after the start of the legislature. If it was to be approved by 2022, the previous management of the ACA should have started processing much earlier", they justify. The plan must pass the procedures of the Legal Advisory Commission (which has three months from March 7 to issue an opinion) and the Technical Council before being approved by the Government.
The new 2022-2027 planning envisages a new desalination plant in Blanes, starting studies for the Foix desalination plant (Cubelles) and promoting 25 regenerating plants to reuse purified water for various uses. In addition, it is planned to increase the use of underground water in the Besòs by expanding the current water treatment station on the right bank (Trinitat), more wells and the first direct catchment to treat surface water in the Besòs.
In Spain as a whole, all state-level hydrological plans (rivers that cross several communities) have been drawn up, as well as the plans for Galicia and the Balearic Islands. And only those of Catalonia, Andalusia (the Andalusian Board has powers over small internal basins) and the Canary Islands are missing. The EU has also filed for the same Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Lithuania, Malta, Portugal, Romania and Slovenia.
