On Wednesday 15 February, the European Commission referred Romania to the Court of Justice of the EU for its failure to close and clean up 68 sub-standard landfills, despite its being required to do so by mid-July 2009.
Under the terms of the landfill directive (Directive 1999/31/EC), member states must recover and dispose of waste in a manner that does not endanger human health or the environment.
In September 2015, the Commission sent a reasoned opinion urging the Romanian authorities to deal adequately with 109 uncontrolled sites which, although not in operation, still posed a threat to human health and the environment. Since then, some progress has been made but for 68 landfills the necessary measures – to clean them up and close them – had still not been completed by December 2016, the Commission states in a press release.
Similar measures have been taken against six other member states: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Spain, Italy, Slovenia and Slovakia (see EUROPE 11361 and 11209). The Court has already delivered judgements against Bulgaria, Cyprus and Spain. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)