Commissie daagt Italië voor het Hof voor falen van het maken van rampenplannen voor fabrieken met gevaarlijke stoffen (en)

The European Commission is bringing Italy before the European Court of Justice for failing to complete the process of drawing up emergency plans in case of major accidents for installations where hazardous substances are present. The Commission is also closing a case against Italy on the designation of special nature protection sites following significant progress achieved in 2007.

Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said: “The Italian authorities must implement contingency plans to protect its citizens and the environment from the consequences of major industrial accidents. It is absolutely vital that installations dealing with hazardous materials have emergency plans in the event of an accident. Every step must be taken to prevent the consequences of such accidents.”

Request for Court ruling on hazardous accidents emergency plans

The Commission is taking Italy to the European Court of Justice for failure to comply with EU legislation on controlling the hazardous consequences of major accidents involving dangerous substances^[1]. Under the directive, often referred to as the Seveso II Directive, Member States are obliged to set up emergency plans for areas surrounding industrial installations that store or handle large quantities of dangerous substances.

The directive requires authorities in Member States to draw up emergency plans for these installations by 3 February 2002. In October 2007 the Commission sent Italy a final warning letter highlighting that more than 20% of installations storing or handling dangerous substances did not have the necessary emergency plans. In its two December 2007 responses Italy acknowledged this shortcoming and stated its commitment to prepare the remaining emergency plans.

However, it is clear that Italy has not complied with the directive to date and little suggests that the current shortcomings will be overcome soon. The Commission believes this state of affairs to be unacceptable and is thus taking Italy before the European Court of Justice.

Case on special protection areas closed

The Commission is closing the designation of special protection areas case against Italy following the progress achieved in 2007 in the matter. In 2003 the European Court of Justice ruled that Italy had failed to classify a large number of zones as Special Protection Areas (SPAs) to protect bird species and other migratory species as required by the Wild Birds Directive. The network of protection areas was especially deficient in Sicily, Sardinia, Lombardia and Calabria (see IP/05/56).

Italy has designated the last outstanding sites and since Italian regions now have a satisfactory level of special protection areas the Commission considers that it has complied with the ECJ ruling and can thus close the case.

Legal Process

Article 226 of the Treaty gives the Commission powers to take legal action against a Member State that is not respecting its obligations.

If the Commission considers that there may be an infringement of EU law that warrants the opening of an infringement procedure, it addresses a "Letter of Formal Notice" (first written warning) to the Member State concerned, requesting it to submit its observations by a specified date, usually two months.

In the light of the reply or absence of a reply from the Member State concerned, the Commission may decide to address a "Reasoned Opinion" (second and final written warning) to the Member State. This clearly and definitively sets out the reasons why it considers there to have been an infringement of EU law and calls upon the Member State to comply within a specified period, normally two months.

If the Member State fails to comply with the Reasoned Opinion, the Commission may decide to bring the case before the European Court of Justice. Where the Court of Justice finds that the Treaty has been infringed, the offending Member State is required to take the measures necessary to conform.

Article 228 of the Treaty gives the Commission power to act against a Member State that does not comply with a previous judgement of the European Court of Justice, again by issuing a first written warning (“Letter of Formal Notice”) and then a second and final written warning (“Reasoned Opinion”). The article then allows the Commission to ask the Court to impose a financial penalty on the Member State concerned.

For rulings by the European Court of Justice see:

http://curia.eu.int/en/content/juris/index.htm

^[1] Directive 96/82/EC on the control of major-accident hazards involving dangerous substances