Brussels, 21/02/2013 (Agence Europe) - Greece is being referred back to the European Court of Justice and may have to face exorbitant fines for not having carried out a 2005 Court ruling to close down or rehabilitate illegal landfills, the European Commission announced on Thursday 21 February.
Having failed to comply with EU law (Directive 99/31/EC on the dumping of waste and the framework directive on waste), the Greek authorities face a fine of €71,193 for each day after the second Court ruling until Greece complies with the judgment, as well as a lump sum calculated on the basis of €7,786 per day for the period between the first judgment and the day of compliance or the day of the second Court ruling. That, at least, is what the Commission is asking the Court to impose on Greece. These sanctions would be reduced with each closure or rehabilitation of an illegal landfill on condition, however, that new landfills are not created.
Since the first Court ruling, Greece has indeed made progress by closing or rehabilitating many landfills and by establishing an adequate waste management system. Most of the projects have been co-funded by the EU. To date, however, some 78 illegal landfills continue to operate in violation of EU waste legislation and 318 are still in the process of being rehabilitated. On two occasions, the closure of illegal landfills was deferred due to the fact that no alternative possibilities were available, which meant that the situation could only grow worse. The Fyli landfill, which takes 90% of waste from the Athens region, is on the point of saturation and will have reached its full capacity by the end of 2014. According to the timetable initially decided, all illegal landfills should have been closed down and rehabilitated by end 2008. (AN/transl.jl)