requires that waters affected or which could be affected if no action is taken by nitrate pollution as defined in Annex I must be identified, Article 3.1;

requires the designation as vulnerable zones of all areas draining into waters identified according to Article 3.1 and which contribute to pollution and notification of these areas to the Commission, Article 3.2;

if waters are affected by pollution from another Member State the affected Member State may notify the other Member State and the Commission of the relevant facts, Article 3.3;

the Member States concerned shall identify, if required in co-operation with the Commission, the measures required to conform with the Directive, Article 3.3;

Member States need to revise the designation of vulnerable zones at least every four years and to notify the Commission of any changes, Article 3.4;

no vulnerable zones need to be identified if the whole national territory is designated as vulnerable, Article 3.5;

Member States have to prepare a Code of Good Agricultural Practice which should include at least all items listed in Annex II A and to set up the necessary training programme for farmers, Article 4.1;

the Code needs to be submitted to the Commission, Article 4.2;

Member States need to establish Action Programmes to reduce nitrate pollution in the vulnerable zones which can be the same for all zones or different for individual zones, Article 5.1 and 5.2;

the Action Programmes should be implemented within four years of their establishment and include the mandatory measures listed in Annex III and those included in the Code of Good Agricultural Practice, Article 5.4;

Member States may take additional actions if required, Article 5.5;

Member States need to draw up suitable monitoring programmes to assess the effectiveness of the Action Programme, Article 5.6:

Member States which designate the whole territory as vulnerable need to set up a monitoring programme representative to establish the extent of any nitrate pollution, Article 5.6;

Member States need to review the Action Programme at least every four years, Article 5.7;

for the designation of nitrate vulnerable zones and revision of the designations, monitoring of freshwaters needs to be carried out over a period of one year, surface water at least monthly and groundwaters at regular intervals. Repeat monitoring should be carried out every four years and the eutrophic state needs to be reviewed every four years, Article 6.1;

for the monitoring the reference method given in Annex IV should be applied, Article 6.2;

monitoring guidelines may be drawn up according to Article 9, Article 7;

adaptation of the Directive is carried out according to Article 9, Article 8;

Member States have to submit a report containing the information outlined in Annex V to the Commission every four year, Article 10

the Commission prepares summary reports from the information supplied by the Member States for the European Parliament and the Council, Article 11;

Member States need to refer in their legislation to the Directive and communicate to the Commission the provisions in national law implementing the Directive, Article 12.