(Adds government statement)

The European Commission is to send a warning to Malta and 11 other EU member states for failing to submit their plans for managing Europe's river basins!

But the government said in a statement this evening that Malta sent its draft river basin management plan to the commission on May 26.

The plans are required by EU water legislation.

The European Commission said the 12 states are Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Greece, Ireland, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia and Spain.

"The river basin plans are the cornerstone of the Water Framework Directive and essential for achieving the EU's objective of 'good status' for European waters by 2015. They should have been adopted by 22 December 2009 at the latest," the Commission said.

Under the legislation, Member States have to publish a management plan for each river basin district. Member States sharing international rivers must work together to produce a single international river basin management plan.

The Water Framework Directive, which came into force in 2000, provides a framework for integrated water management in river basin districts across the European Union. It obliges Member States to protect and restore all bodies of ground water and surface water (rivers, lakes, canals and coastal water) to achieve good status by 2015 at the latest.

The government said that the plan it sent the commission is available for public consultation on Mepa's website.

It will also be discussed by the Malta-EU Steering and Action Committee Core Group meeting as well as by MEUSAC's Environment Sectoral COmmittee in the coming weeks.

www.mepa.org.mt/topic-waterpc