Mr. Colin Byrne:

The situation is that progress with the proposal has been slow. There is not yet a mandate for the Presidency to enter into the trilogue negotiations with the European Parliament and Commission as yet. The Presidency is with Romania. In my view, looking at the way things have proceeded, it could be June before there is a mandate for it to enter negotiations. The engagement will probably happen during the Finnish Presidency.

The reasoned opinion issued by parliament last year was one of four from several member states, including the UK, Austria and the Czech Republic. The Germans had some concerns as well. There were concerns about subsidiarity and proportionality. That has certainly informed our engagement at the working party on the environment in respect of our position. Keeping in mind that these are discussions within Council and member state positions, there has been a significant shift which addresses the concerns this committee has on the issue of subsidiarity. There is now more flexibility reflected in the Council version of the text, or proposal for the text, for member states to implement as they see fit, rather than being dictated to in the way the text was phrased in the original proposal.

The monitoring requirements have also shifted and are more proportional in terms of small agglomerations or water supplies. The group water scheme sector, in particular, is happier with what is being proposed now. Accordingly, as the supplies get smaller, the obligation to monitor has been reduced. We have had ongoing discussions with Irish Water, the National Federation of Group Water Schemes and the EPA. The committee, in its reasoned opinion, mentioned that the standards being proposed went beyond the WHO recommendations. The Council version has shifted back to the WHO standards. Progress has been slow but we would expect that by the end of the Romanian Presidency, there should be a mandate to enter trilogue negotiations.