Brussels, 12/07/2004 (Agence Europe) - On Monday, the European Commission decided to send several reasoned opinions to the Netherlands for failing to implement or for not bringing its legislation into line with that of Community environmental laws. The warnings concern six separate cases relating to water and air pollution, waste management and climate change. Furthermore, the Commission has decided to take the Netherlands before the Court of Justice for not having transposed European legislation on low sulphur fuel, which is needed for new emission-reducing vehicle technologies to function effectively. The Commission had already warned the Netherlands twice about its obligation to transpose this legislation. National legislation for implementation of the 2003 directive on fuel standards (2003/17/EC) should have been in place by 30 June 2003 at the latest. The Hague has not yet completed the process of adopting this legislation and has naturally not notified the Commission.
The reasoned opinions cover various Community provisions. The Commission reproaches the Netherlands for not having adopted or notified the Ozone Directive, which should have been transposed into national law by 9 September 2003 at the latest. It also criticises Dutch environmental law for being on many occasions less stringent and less clear than the Directive on Integrated Prevention and Pollution Control (IPPC). Failings have also been noted when it comes to application of the directive on discharges of dangerous substances into water as the Netherlands does not have all the measures awaited in line with the text to reduce pollution. The Commission acknowledges that the Netherlands has prepared and communicated pollution-reducing programmes for certain substances discharged to the River Westerschelde but programmes are still awaited for other parts of the countries. The Netherlands has promised to adopt measures by the end of 2004 to correct the situation. The Commission deplores the fact that the situation is not satisfactory either when it comes to implementing the Packaging Waste Directive. The Netherlands has entered into a covenant (voluntary agreement) with industry whereby new one-way packaging for soft drinks and beer can only be admitted on the Dutch market after having undergone a procedure resembling an authorisation process. The Commission considers that this agreement runs counter to a provision of the directive under which free access must be granted to packaging from other Member States, and that the measures proposed by The Hague to address the issue do not go far enough. According to information available, discussions would seem to be under way in the Netherlands on the covenant but no actual changes have been made to remedy the situation. The Commission also criticises the Netherlands for not having fully transposed into national law the requirements of the Water Framework Directive although it does admit that it is now setting up the legislation required but that it will probably take several more months before it is adopted and notified to the Commission. Finally, after the fashion of several other Member States, the Netherlands has not adopted national legislation transposing the Directive that establishes the EU greenhouse gas emissions trading scheme. This legislation is expected for 31 December.
If the Netherlands does not comply with the written warnings within two months, the Commission may decide to take action before the Court of Justice.