Until now, river basin specific pollutants that are not identified as priority substances under Directive 2000/60/EC have been subject to national EQS and been counted as physico-chemical quality elements supporting the assessment of ecological status in surface waters. In groundwaters, it has also been possible for Member States to set their own threshold values, even for man-made synthetic substances. That flexibility has led to sub-optimal results in terms of comparability of the status of water bodies between Member States, and in terms of environmental protection. Therefore, it is necessary to provide for a procedure that allows for an agreement at Union level on EQS and threshold values that are to be applied for those substances if they are identified as being of national concern, and to establish repositories of the applicable threshold values in Annex II to Directive 2006/118/EC and of the applicable EQS in a new annex to Directive 2008/105/EC. The harmonised EQS and threshold values should only be applied by Member States in assessing the status of their water bodies in the river basin districts where a risk has been identified from those substances.
Text as published in the Official Journal, reproduced verbatim (including any typographical quirks of the source). For the authentic version, see EUR-Lex.
