On Thursday 8 December, the European Commission announced that Italy is being referred back for a second time to the Court of Justice of the EU for its failure to ensure that urban waste water is adequately collected and treated and it could subsequently face huge fines.
In 80 agglomerations across the country out of the 109 covered by the first Court judgment of 19 July 2012 (C-565-10), Italy has still failed to adequately collect and treat the urban waste water discharged and has persistently breached Directive 91/271/EEC. This situation threatens internal waters and the marine environment, as well as the health of six million citizens.
If Italy persists in its failure to execute the Court of Justice ruling, which had already ruled that the country was failing to meet its obligations, the Court could impose a lump sum payment on Italy of €62,699,421.40 for its shortcomings. The Commission is also proposing a daily penalty payment of €346,922.40 if full compliance is not achieved by the date when the Court issues its second ruling. The Commission has just included a demand in the sense with its second referral to the Court.
Directive 91/271/EEC stipulates that member states must ensure agglomerations (towns, cities and settlements) collect and treat urban waste water appropriately because this water could be at risk of contamination from bacteria and dangerous viruses. Towns of more than 15,000 inhabitants discharging their urban waste waters into the receiving bodies of water that are not considered sensitive areas, should have been equipped with their waste water collection and treatment systems since 31 December 2000.
The agglomerations affected by the persistent shortcomings of the Italian authorities are located in seven regions: Abruzzo (one agglomeration), Calabria (13 agglomerations), Campania (seven agglomerations), Friuli-Venezia Giulia (two agglomerations), Liguria (three agglomerations), Puglia (three agglomerations), and Sicily (51 agglomerations). (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)