29/09/23 (Agence Europe) – On Thursday 28 September, the European Commission sent Portugal a reasoned opinion for infringing the EU directive on industrial emissions (Directive 2010/75/EU). The Commission criticises the Portuguese legislation, which is supposed to transpose this directive, for not defining dangerous substances in the correct way and for not clearly requiring the operator of an industrial plant to immediately inform the competent authority in the event of an incident or accident. In addition, the requirements concerning the review and updating of permit conditions (operating permits), as well as access to information and public participation in the permit procedure, have also not been correctly transposed. With this reasoned opinion, the Commission is hoping for full transposition within 2 months, which was not possible with a letter of formal notice sent to Portugal in September 2022. (AN)