Brussels, 23/03/2009 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has decided to move to the next stage in infringement procedures against Italy and Spain which, despite several times being called to order, continue to fail to comply with EU environmental legislation. Italy could be fined if it does not speedily comply with a Court of Justice ruling. The infringements and the state of play of the infringement procedures are as follows:
Landfills: The Commission is sending Italy a first written warning under Article 228 of the Treaty for not complying with a ruling from the European Court of Justice in April 2008 on the inadequate transposition of the EU landfill directive into Italian law. The landfill directive establishes a set of measures on the location, construction and management of sites to prevent or minimise water, soil and air pollution emanating from landfill sites. The directive was adopted in 1999 and had to be transposed into national law by 16 July 2001. The Commission says that Italy has still not completely implemented the missing measures of the directive, including those relating to waste acceptance criteria for waste going into landfills. If Italy fails to respond to the written warning, the Commission has the power to refer the matter to the Court of Justice for a second time and call on the Court to impose a financial sanction on Rome.
Assessment of the impact of public and private projects on the environment: The Commission is sending Italy a reasoned opinion (second stage of the procedure under Article 226 of the Treaty) for its failure to respond to a letter of formal notice which, in June 2008, asked it to explain why a law (Ordinance) that breaches the provisions of Directive 85/337/EC was adopted. The ordinance establishes a simplified legal regime for works relating to a meeting of the G8 heads of state on La Maddalena island (Sardinia Region) in the summer of 2009, and works relating to the celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy in 2011.
Waste management: The Commission is sending Spain a written warning for permitting the stockpiling in the marshland areas of the Tinto river in the Huelva estuary in south western Spain of industrial waste (some 120 million tonnes of the industrial waste phosphogypsum), in breach of EU environmental laws, namely directives on waste (75/442/EEC), on integrated pollution prevention and control (IPPC) (96/61/EC), and on landfills (1999/31/EC).
In its defence, and in response to the letter of formal warning, Spanish authorities claimed, in May 2008, that phosphogypsum is not waste, but an industrial by-product. The Commission does not share this view: since the substance has been disposed of it must be considered as waste with a permit issued to ensure its proper management according to EU environmental laws, it argues. In a press release, European Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas says he is “very concerned by the instances of dangerous substances being disposed of in Spain without adequate plans to deal with them in the long-term”. (A.N./transl.rt)