Brussels, 16/07/2015 (Agence Europe) - Despite several calls to order, Spain has persisted in flouting EU legislation on waste management and is to be brought before the Court of Justice, the European Commission decided on Thursday 16 July.
The Commission accuses this member state of persistent poor waste management in several regions (Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla and León and Murcia), where 61 illegal landfills pose a threat to human health and the environment.
This is a clear breach of the framework directive on waste, which obliges the member states of the EU to take measures to ensure that waste is treated without endangering human health, causing any risks to water, air, soil, plants or animals, without causing a nuisance through noise or odours and without adversely affecting the countryside of places of special interest.
Under this legislation, the uncontrolled dumping, discharge or disposal of waste is prohibited.
Following a letter of formal notice (the first stage in the infringement procedure), followed by a reasoned opinion in October 2008, the Spanish authorities pledged to close and rehabilitate the illegal landfills before the end of 2011. However, the slow speed of the progress has led the Commission to send a further reasoned opinion calling on the country to take the appropriate measures regarding the uncontrolled sites.
However, by the middle of 2015, most of the work required to close, seal off and rehabilitate the 61 uncontrolled landfill sites had not yet been planned, approved or initiated.
Hence the European Commission's impatience. By referring the matter before the Court of Justice, it hopes to convince Spain to speed up the process and to comply with EU legislation, in the interests of public health and the environment. (Aminata Niang)