On Thursday 22 February, the EU Court of Justice once more found Greece guilty of non-compliance with EU law on urban waste water treatment in the region of Thriasio Pedio (Case C-328/16) (see EUROPE 11434).
In June 2004, the Court had ruled that, by not taking the necessary measures for the installation of a collection system for urban waste water in the region of Thriasia Pedio to the west of Athens, and by its failure to fulfil obligations for a more stringent treatment than the secondary treatment for waste water in that region before discharge into the Gulf of Eleusina, Greece had infringed its obligations under the directive (91/271) on urban waste water treatment (Case C-119/02).
After a second Court referral by the European Commission for Greece’s failure to fulfil its obligations, the Court ruled, on Thursday, that Greece had not completely complied with the 2004 judgement. The plant specifically built for the treatment of urban waste water was not operating before end November 2012, while the deadline set for compliance with the 2004 ruling was July 2010. Furthermore, nearly half the population in the region of Thriasiao Pedio is still not connected to the tertiary network.
The Court deems that the delay of almost 20 years in bringing the installations concerned into compliance with the directive constitutes aggravating circumstances. Nonetheless, it also considers the attenuating circumstance linked to the significant archaeological heritage of the region as well as Greece’s financial difficulties, that country is facing having been under financial supervision since 2010.
Consequently, Greece is under an obligation to pay, before Thursday when the judgement is pronounced, a six-monthly penalty of €3.28 million for each delay of six months. The effective amount of the degressive penalty will be calculated at the end of each six-month period, with deduction being made given progress achieved in the meantime. Athens will be ordered to pay a lump sum of €5 million to prevent future recurrence of similar infringements of EU law.
Back in 2015, the Court ruled that Greece should make penalty payments for the urban waste water collection systems in 23 agglomerations not complying with EU standards (see EUROPE 11411). (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)