Hoewel het recht van de lidstaten om strengere maatregelen te nemen al in de Verdragen is vastgelegd, ben ik blij dat dit beginsel nogmaals expliciet in de Grondwaterrichtlijn is verankerd. ###>Even though the right of the Member States to take more stringent measures is already specified in the treaties, I am delighted that this principle has once again been explicitly entrenched in the groundwater directive.