The European Commission decided, on Thursday 16 November, to take Greece to the Court of Justice of the EU for failing to provide up-to-date maps showing the potential adverse consequences associated with flood scenarios.
Greece is the only country to have not yet met this obligation under the Directive on the assessment and management of flood risks (2007/60/EC, known as the ‘Floods Directive’).
Previously, the Commission had sent a letter of formal notice to Greece in February 2022 and a reasoned opinion in September 2022, as these updated maps should have been communicated by 22 March 2020.
The European Commission has also decided to take Greece to the EU Court of Justice for failing to close a landfill site located in a Natura 2000 protected area on the island of Zakynthos.
In a judgment of 17 July 2014, the Court ruled that the landfill, which was not operating satisfactorily at the time, did not comply with European environmental rules.
Greece had not complied with this judgment. It had been sent a letter of formal notice on 28 April 2017. The landfill has not been in use for 5 years, but is still polluting and should have been closed and rehabilitated.
The Commission considers that Greece has not communicated a credible timetable for full implementation of the Court’s judgment.
Finally, the European Commission has announced a referral to the Court against Croatia for failing to fully meet its obligations to transpose the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (Directive EU/2018/852, amending Directive 94/62/EC) into its legal system.
This directive should have been transposed into national law by 5 July 2020.
The Commission is also criticising Croatia for failing to communicate the measures by which the Member State considers it has transposed the Directive and will ask the Court to impose financial penalties on Croatia (Original version in French by Émilie Vanderhulst)