Integrated pollution prevention and control (Directive 96/91/EEC). Report

The committee adopted the own-initiative report drawn up by Marialiese FLEMMING (EPP-ED, A) in response to the Commission paper on progress in implementing Council Directive 96/61/EC on integrated pollution prevention and control. MEPs said that current legislation should not be supplemented or expanded at present to allow national authorities more time to familiarise themselves with the current legal situation. They criticised the "overall lack of clarity, remarkable variations in implementation and an absence of monitoring mechanisms" which, they said, weakened the capacity of the directive to tackle environmental concerns. To remedy some of these shortcomings, MEPs urged the Commission to draw up a Guidance Document in order to clarify the definition of 'installation', energy-efficiency requirements, the application of the directive to municipal waste water treatment plants, certain key terms and definitions and other matters relating to the scope and implementation of the directive. The report also called on the Commission to finalise all the relevant reference documents on 'Best Available Techniques' (BATs) and to establish clear criteria for future selection of BATs to properly reflect the original intentions of the directive. MEPs pointed out that the first to suffer from this lack of clarity were small and medium sized enterprises, and called for support measures to be introduced, provided they complied with rules on competition and the internal market. �