Compliance with the provisions of the Water Framework Directive in Hungary

27.6.2012

Question for written answer E-006466/2012
to the Commission
Rule 117
Csaba Sándor Tabajdi (S&D)

Starting from June 2012, Hungary’s Ministry of Regional Development suspended budget support to the Environmental Protection and Water Management Research Institute (VITUKI). As a result, the 120-year-old institute was forced to suspend its public interest activities. The institute dealt with the country’s water status reports, provided information on navigation for the Hungarian stretch of the Danube and carried out water quality tests, measuring, among other things, the concentration of substances categorised in water policy terms as priority substances or priority hazardous substances, in accordance with Directive 2008/105/EC on environmental quality standards and the Water Framework Directive.

Although the institute’s tasks are to some extent transferable, the recently-established National Environment Institute will not be able to undertake them all owing to insufficient budget support, infrastructure and human resources.

1. Is the Commission investigating whether the new Hungarian institutional system complies with the provisions of the Water Framework Directive?

2. Is the Commission keeping track of whether Hungary is fulfilling its reporting obligations set out in the Water Framework Directive?

3. How, in the Commission’s assessment, will the recent institutional changes influence Hungary’s potential for implementing the EU strategy on the Danube region?

OJ C 263 E, 12/09/2013