Brussels, 25/07/2001 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday, the European Commission decided to send Italy a reasoned opinion for failing to comply with the Community Sewage Sludge Directive
The Directive provides for quality controls on sewage sludge that is used in agriculture, in particular to avoid the build-up of heavy metals in soil. It also provides for a system of record-keeping. The Commission decided to act against Italy as the latter has not supplied information concerning the period 1995-1997, which should have been communicated for 30 September 1998. Following an initial infringement procedure, Italy submitted the required information, but it turned out to be incomplete, Rome not having communicated the quantity of sludge produced and supplied to be spread on agricultural land, nor did it describe the quality of the sludge. A letter of formal notice was sent to Italy in November 2000, inviting it to supply the missing information and to take appropriate steps to record the relevant parameters. Italy having failed to provide the required information or communicate any concrete measures to the Commission, the latter decided to pursue the infringement procedure.