Brussels.
THE president of the European Commission last night rejected claims by
Prime Minister John Major and Chancellor Kenneth Clarke that Britain had
won concessions on implement
ing the EU's clean water
policy.
Mr Jacques Delors and Environment Commissioner Ioannis Paleokrassas
pointed out that Mr Clarke had found no support in the the Council of
the European Union when he raised the subject with other finance
ministers.
The incident caused embarrassment last year for Mr Clarke, when he
claimed the Commission had given the green light to Britain changing the
timetable on bringing water up to EU standards, because of the
''unacceptable'' cost.
Mr Clarke claimed the #10 billion cost to the UK was ''too high to
contemplate''. His tone was aimed at blaming the Commission for
recklessly committing member states to vast spending.
He had to back down when it emerged that the original estimated cost
of #2000m had been calculated during Mr Michael Heseltine's term at
Environment.
Mr Paleokrassas appeared before the European Parliament's all-party
environment committee, chaired by Mr Ken Collins, Labour Euro-MP for
Strathclyde East, and told members: ''I would like to confirm that there
has not been a single proposal made by a single member state as to
lowering the standards or criteria relating to the direct
ives.''
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