Brussels, 25/03/2013 (Agence Europe) - Three member states which, despite calls to order, continue to flout EU environmental legislation, have come under fire from the European Commission in its list of monthly infringements decided upon by the European Commission on 20 March.
Italy will be brought before the Court of Justice (third stage of the procedure) for its infringement of EU legislation applicable to waste (Framework Directive 2008/98/EC and Directive 99/31/EC) in the region of Latium, where landfill sites are full of waste which have not been previously subjected to the required treatment, to the detriment of human health and the environment. The Commission accuses this member state of a restrictive interpretation of what is meant by appropriate waste treatment. The directive on placing waste into landfill (Directive 99/31/EC) provides that all waste placed in landfill must have been treated in advance, in other words that it has to undergo some “physical, thermal, chemical or biological processes, including sorting, that change the characteristics of the waste in order to reduce its volume or hazardous nature, facilitating its handling or enhance recovery”. However, some municipal waste produced in the region is not treated in mechanical or biological treatment plants before being placed into landfill, because the region does not have sufficient capacity to do so. Italy erroneously takes the view that crushing waste before landfill constitutes treatment. According to the latest information, some 735,000 tonnes of waste now escape treatment worthy of the name in the Rome province every year, with another 120,000 tonnes also going untreated in the nearby Latina province. In light of the responses provided by the Italian authorities to a letter of formal notice of June 2011 and a reasoned opinion of June 2012, these deficiencies may continue until 2015; hence the Commission's decision to take an additional step in the infringement procedure in order to bring pressure to bear on the competent Italian authorities.
Belgium will be brought before the Court of Justice for its persistent infringement of the directive on the treatment of urban waste water (Directive 91/271/EEC). Despite progress made since a reasoned opinion sent to the country in 2011, four small urban centres in the Flemish region and 33 in the Wallonian region have still not come into line, and will not do so until 2015. However, the deadline for member states to fully to transpose the directive was 31 December 2015, nearly 10 years ago. For large urban centres, including Brussels Capital, another case is underway for which Belgium has already been the subject of a second recourse to the Court of Justice.
Slovenia has received a reasoned opinion (second stage of the procedure) for its failure in its obligation to treat tyres incorrectly placed into landfill in a gravel pit at Lovrenc na Dravskem polju (commune of Kidricevo). Not only is there a ban on placing used tyres into landfill throughout the European Union, particularly due to their inflammability, but waste management must be carried out without endangering public health and the environment and creating any risks to water, air, soil, former or flora. However, the said gravel pit, which contains 107,060 cubic metres of used tyres, whole and shredded, has already experienced two major fires, and is located near to one of the country's largest drinking water reservoirs. The Slovenian authorities will have two months to come into line with EU legislation, or the Commission may bring the matter before the Court of Justice. (AN/transl.fl)