Brussels, 15/07/2005 (Agence Europe) - The Commission has crossed a stage in infringement proceedings against a number of Member States which, despite constant reminders, have persistently failed to respect Community legislation in the field of the environment. In the event of failure to implement Court of Justice rulings, the procedure begun under Article 228 of the Treaty may result in financial sanctions that the Commission may request of the Court.
United Kingdom: - letter of formal notice under Article 228 of the Treaty for failure to implement a Court of Justice ruling (C-341/02 of 12 October 2004) after the Member State was found guilty of incomplete transposition of the directive on dangerous waste (91/689/EEC); - referral to the Court (third stage in the procedure under Article 226 of the Treaty) for lack of systems for the collection and secondary treatment of waste water in 13 towns in Northern Ireland for the most part (in breach of Directive 91/271/EEC); - referral to the Court for failure to comply with the obligation to designate and protect all the coastal waters and rivers likely to suffer from eutrophication and for the insufficient protection of rivers and coastal waters designated as sensitive areas (same directive); - reasoned opinion (second stage in the Article 226 procedure) for non-compliance with Regulation 2037/2000 concerning the substances that impoverish the ozone layer; - reasoned opinions for non-transposition into national law of the Directive 2002/49/EC on the impact assessment and management of noise, and of three directives (2003/108/EC, 2002/96/EC, 2002/95/EC) concerning used electrical and electronic equipment waste.
France: - Reasoned opinion for failure to implement a ruling of the Court dated 27 November 2003 (C-429/01) which had condemned this Member State for incorrect transposition into national law of the Directive 90/219/EEC on the confined use of genetically modified micro-organisms; - letter of formal notice for failure to implement the ruling of the Court dated 15 July 2004 (C-419/03) concerning the incomplete transposition of the framework directive 2001/18/EC relating to the voluntary dissemination of GMOs into the environment; - letter of formal notice for non-implementation of the Court's ruling of 5 December 2004 (C-172/04) due to the incomplete transposition of Directive 1999/31/EC on the dumping of waste; - reasoned opinions (Article 226) before referral to the Court for insufficient designation and protection of the sites where the Gypertus Barbatus lives (a rare species of bird of prey) that should come under special conservation measures under Directive 79/409/EEC on the conservation of wild birds; - reasoned opinion for failure to comply with the obligation to submit complete reports to the Commission on the years 2001 to 2003 on the use of methyl bromide (a pesticide), under the regulation concerning substances that impoverish the ozone layer; - reasoned opinions for failure to notify the Commission of measures for transposing the European legislation on noise (Directive 2002/49/EC), public access to information on the environment (Directive 2003/4/EC), electrical and electronic equipment waste (Directive 2003/108/EC), and the limitation of dangerous substances present in such equipment (Directive 2002/95/EC).
Germany: - Letter of formal notice for failure to comply with a 2004 ruling of the Court (C-420/03) on failing to transpose Directive 2001/18/EC concerning the voluntary dissemination of GMOs.