Ireland is likely to face new EU Commission pressure to introduce water charges. This follows a report from the EU Court of Auditors which calls for more effective implementation of the "polluter pays" principle through incentives to water-users to cut consumption.
In its annual report, published today, the court found the Commission "had not taken sufficient account of the need to ensure that the level of charges is set so as to give the right price signal to induce people to avoid pollution."
In a specific audit of the implementation of the Union's water pollution programmes, the court noted the difficulty for the authorities in most of the projects monitored "in fixing politically and socially acceptable charging rates for their customers". But it warned: "The costs of countering pollution are all too readily transferred from the polluter to the European taxpayer."
The report complains of the failure of member-states to fully comply with the reporting requirements of the main EU water and waste directives. And it cites Ireland specifically for its failure to treat more than 15 per cent of total sludge produce in sewage plants and the dumping of half the untreated sludge at sea, aggravating pollution.
The audit also notes that all the member-states surveyed, including Ireland, said they probably would not be able to meet statutory obligations to construct sewage plants on time, especially in the case of smaller towns, because of cost problems.
The report cites Ireland for delays in construction of drainage projects in Greystones and Wexford, a 45 per cent cost overrun of the Dingle sewage plant, and for the State's failure to sanction Waterford Foods over illegal discharges.
The Court of Auditors once again fails to give a clean bill of health to the EU's accounts. In a qualified "statement of assurance" which accompanies the annual report, the court passes broadly the same judgment on the Union's system of financial control as last year. In its survey of a spread of financial programmes, it finds insufficient justification or errors in the application of some 5 per cent of the EU 1997 spending of £63 billion.
While part of such misapplication may be fraudulent, the bulk reflects inadequate control mechanisms, many of them in the member-states which administer 80 per cent of the budget.
The report focuses on a number of specific problem areas: in agriculture, the regime for subsidising durum wheat, produced in the southern countries for pasta, has been over-compensating farmers to the tune of some £2.3 billion between 1994 and 1997 for price cuts that did not happen.
There have been major irregularities in the import of New Zealand milk products and Swiss cheese because the Commission and the UK took at face value assurances on fat content. Underpayment of some £320 million in duties was involved.
In fisheries, attempts to reduce fishing capacity through encouraging the fleet to fish outside EU waters have been very unsuccessful.
Although 290 boats were removed from the register at a cost of £240 million, the effect on catches was insignificant. Money was paid for boats which were inactive and therefore not eligible, and aid to boats which subsequently sunk was not recovered.
A special report is scathing on the EU's role in nuclear safety in eastern Europe where, between 1990 and 1997, some £650 million was allocated but, "in spite of the urgency", only £240 million spent.
The Court President, Mr Bernhard Friedman, will tell MEPs today "it was not possible to judge whether there had been any actual progress in terms of nuclear safety".
Constant staff changes and administrative incompetence meant the programme was neither properly planned nor monitored. Some £154 million in technical assistance contracts were handed out without any tendering, allowing Western contractors to make exorbitant profits.
Mr Friedman will also tell MEPs that "the EU is still losing vast amounts of revenue from customs duties and value added tax". Member-states' lack of interest in the systematic collection of customs duties, he will say, is particularly surprising.
