Greece has been referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union by the European Commission for failure to comply with the Noise Directive (2002/49/EC). With this decision on Wednesday 18 June, the European Commission noted that “the efforts made by the Greek authorities remain, to date, insufficient”.
In accordance with the directive, Greece was expected to adopt noise action plans for all built-up areas and major roads. Initially, the aim is to inform the public by means of strategic noise maps “showing noise exposure in major conurbations, along major railways, main roads and around major airports”, explained the European Commission.
Greece had taken action, but the European Commission considered that Greece had not adopted noise maps for the majority of conurbations, and when it did, it did so without complying with the minimum requirements set out in the directive, without properly consulting the public and without correctly identifying all the roads for which strategic maps and action plans should have been drawn up. (Original version in French by Florent Servia)