Hungary wants more time to bring tap water to EU standards

dpa German Press Agency
Published: Thursday November 9, 2006

Budapest- Hungary has asked for a three-year extension to an EU deadline on bringing its tap water up to scratch, MTI news agency reported Environment Minister Miklos Persanyi as saying at a conference on Thursday. The deadline is currently set for the end of 2006, but Hungary would have to spend 250 billion forints (1.23 billion dollars) to meet this target.

Persanyi said that financing the upgrades was the major reason for requesting a delay.

Hungary is struggling with a massive budget deficit of 10.1 per cent of gross domestic product.

Earlier this year the government introduced an austerity package that cut spending and raised taxes in an attempt to slash the deficit and eventually adopt the euro.

The upgrade would filter out nitrates and arsenic from the water supplies of over 2 million people, but Persanyi said that Hungarian tap water was already healthier than many EU countries.

© 2006 dpa German Press Agency