Brussels, 17/01/2012 (Agence Europe) - In the latest twist on the never-ending saga of the waste crisis in Campania, the Italian authorities responded on 16 January to the second letter of formal notice sent by the European Commission at the end of September enjoining them for the final time to comply with the judgment of the Court of Justice of the EU (Case C-297/08) which ruled in March 2010 that Italy had failed to put in place an adequate integrated waste management system in Campania (see EUROPE 10463).
The late response was confirmed by the Commission on Tuesday, some hours after the time set for Italy to comply had run out (the deadline set was midnight on 15 January). Rome said that it had taken the necessary steps, but the Commission wants to make sure. A meeting between European Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik and Italian Environment Minister Corrado Clini, scheduled for 25 January, should make things much clearer.
“Italy's response to the warning was received in the afternoon of 16 January. This response is currently being evaluated”, a Commission spokesman said on Tuesday, adding: “The main point is that the Italian authorities state that the local plan for municipal waste management was adopted by the Campania regional parliament in January, only a few weeks ago. We welcome this and call on the Italian authorities to take all necessary steps urgently to improve the situation, separate collection, followed by recycling and perhaps, too, use of organic waste and making available further landfill capacity. The response from Italy will be discussed at the meeting between Janez Potocnik and the Italian environment minister in Brussels on 25 January.”
Italy had two months in which to provide a satisfactory response to the European Commission, after which the threat of a second referral to the EU Court of Justice hung over its head, with the possibility of financial penalties being imposed (under the terms of Article 260 of the Treaty). (AN/transl.rt)