Brussels, 22/06/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 22 June, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) decided that for having delayed implementation of the Urban Waste Water Directive, Portugal would be ordered pay a lump sum payment of € 3 000 000 and a penalty payment of € 8 000 per day of delay.
The penalty is less harsh than the European Commission (see EUROPE 11178) was seeking but it is still a substantial sum for Portugal to have to pay. The country certainly made progress in the correct application of Council directive 91/271/EC on urban waste water by providing urban water collection and treatment systems in 21 of the 22 agglomerations identified by the Court in a ruling made in 2009. The Portuguese authorities promised that the final agglomeration of Matosinhos would be equipped by this facility in 2019 but it should already have done this by 31 December 2000.
The Court therefore points out that although only one agglomeration still needs to be equipped with this facility, this is not a good enough reason for avoiding penalty payments as "dissuasive measures" particularly because the delay accumulated over a period of 20 years. The Court has taken a tough line on its new decision by highlighting the "particularly lengthy character of the infringement" and the "repetition of unlawful conduct is all the more unacceptable where it takes place in a sector in which the effects on human health and the environment are particularly significant”. (Original version in French by Jan Kordys)