Brussels, 27/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - The Czech Republic, France and Italy are being sent reasoned opinions by the European Commission for persistent failure to apply EU environment legislation, announced the Commission on Friday 27 March. The three countries now have two months to comply, failing which they may be sent to the European Court of Justice.
The European Commission accuses the Czech Republic of failing to take measures that should have been applied since 2005 to restrict people's exposure to fine particulates (PM10) under EU Directive 2008/50/EC on ambient air quality. The daily and annual upper limits are exceeded in a number of cities and regions.
Italy has infringed three aspects of EU Directive 91/271/EEC, with 817 big agglomerations (containing more than 2,000 inhabitants) failing to collect or properly treat waste water; some of these agglomerations fail to apply more rigorous treatment procedures in sensitive areas; and the requirement to eliminate phosphates and nitrogen is not respected in 32 sensitive areas.
France is required to bring its rules into line with EU Directive 2001/42/EC on prior strategic assessment of the environmental impact of any potential plan or programme likely to have a negative impact on the environment. The Commission says that some exemptions introduced by France are unjustified and French law does not ensure the operational separation of the environmental authority and the decision-making authority, a situation which does not ensure unbiased decision-making. (Aminata Niang)