Spain faces serious fines following the announcement by the European Commission on Thursday 17 November that it is sending the country to the European Court of Justice for persistent failure to meet EU legislation on the collection and processing of urban waste water.
The case is about Spain’s failure to comply with a 2011 European Court of Justice ruling (C342/10) finding the country guilty of failing to provide measures to deal properly with waste water from 37 urban areas, in line with the EU Directive on urban waste water (Directive 91/271/EEC).
Some progress has been made, but no corrections have yet been made in 17 urban areas of more than 15,000 inhabitants, leading to risks to public health and the environment.
In this second case, the Commission is asking the Court of Justice of the EU to impose a lump sum fine on Spain amounting to €46,522,999. The Commission is also proposing a daily fine of €171,217.20 if full compliance is not achieved by the date when the Court issues its second ruling. The Commission hopes the threat of fines will lead to action being taken.
The 17 urban agglomerations in question are: Matalascañas, Alhaurín el Grande, Isla Cristina, Tarifa, Coín, Estepona-San Pedro de Alcántara, Nerja and Barbate (Andalucía), Gijón Este (Asturias), Santiago de Compostela, Aguiño-Carreira-Ribeira, Vigo (Galicia), Benicarló, Peñíscola, Teulada-Moraira (Comunidad Valenciana), Noreste (Valle Guerra) and Valle de Güímar (Tenerife, Islas Canarias).
Under Directive 91/271/EEC, towns and cities with a population of more than 15,000 inhabitants which discharge urban waste water into receiving waters not considered to be sensitive areas were required to have systems for collecting and treating their waste water in place as of 1 January 2001. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)