The European Commission referred Slovenia and Romania to the Court of Justice of the EU on Thursday 27 April for failure to comply with EU waste legislation. Slovenia has been referred over illegal landfills and Romania for not having a national strategy on waste.
Directive 1999/31/EC requires member states to recover and dispose of waste in a manner that does not endanger human health and the environment, prohibiting the abandonment, dumping or uncontrolled disposal of waste. Sub-standard municipal and industrial landfills had to be closed by 16 July 2009. Slovenia, however, like Bulgaria, Cyprus, Italy, Romania, Slovakia and Spain, has failed to take the necessary measures.
Despite progress in seven of the thirty-five landfills, the Commission has decided to refer the Slovenian authorities to the Court of Justice. The Court has already issued judgments against Bulgaria, Cyprus and Spain.
The second referral to the Court relates to waste management and prevention in Romania, one of the worst performing member states in terms of managing municipal solid waste, with the highest landfilling rate of 72%, far above the EU average of 25.6%, in 2015. The EU waste framework directive (2008/98/EC) and the circular economy package require member states to adopt national waste management plans and waste prevention programmes, re-evaluate them at least every six years and revise them as necessary. Infringement proceedings have been opened against a number of member states, including Belgium, Cyprus, Croatia, Italy, France, Spain and Slovenia. These cases are at different stages, and two (Slovenia and Croatia) have been closed following adoption of the appropriate plans and programmes. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)