Brussels, 16/07/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 16 July, the Court of Justice of the EU ordered Italy to pay a lump sum of €20 million and a daily penalty of €120,000 for incorrect application of the waste directive in the region of Campania.
The Court of Justice found against Italy (case C-653/13) as the country has failed properly to execute its earlier judgment of 2010, which highlighted the lack of an adequate integrated waste management system in Campagna (see EUROPE 10871), constituting a major breach of the requirements of the waste directive (2006/12/EC).
The Court justified the considerable level of the fine - of both the lump-sum and the daily fine - above all on the grounds of the major deficiency in the capacity of the region of Campagna to process its waste, which is also likely to have knock-on effects for the national network of waste disposal plants. The fact that the situation has gone on for more than five years since the previous judgment and Italy's shortcomings in waste disposal matters have been identified in more than 20 cases brought before the Court also contributed to the level of the fine handed down, the judges stressed. (Jan Kordys)