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Parliamentary question - E-004537/2021Parliamentary question
E-004537/2021

The ‘polluter pays’ principle

Question for written answer  E-004537/2021
to the Commission
Rule 138
Maria Grapini (S&D)

The ‘polluter pays’ principle dictates that polluters should bear the costs of the pollution they create, but this does not always happen in the EU. Although the principle is generally reflected in the EU’s environmental policies, it does not cover every scenario and the way it is applied varies from sector to sector and from one Member State to another. This means that clean-up operations are sometimes financed using public monies, rather than being paid for by the polluters.

There are around 3 million sites in the EU that are potentially contaminated, largely as a result of industrial activity and waste treatment and disposal operations. Six out of every ten bodies of surface water, such as rivers and lakes, are chemically polluted and in poor ecological condition. EU householders bear the lion’s share of the cost of this, despite consuming just 10% of all the water consumed. All of this creates considerable costs for EU citizens.

Last updated: 20 October 2021
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