Italië: Europese Commissie onderneemt stappen in verband met overtredingen milieuwetten (en)

The European Commission is pursuing legal action against Italy over two cases in which EU laws to protect the environment are being violated. One case concerns Italy's failure to comply fully with a European Court of Justice (ECJ) judgement condemning it for not adopting in full laws governing the landfilling of waste. In this regard the Commission is sending a first written warning under Article 228 of the treaty, which could lead to Italy being fined if it does not comply. In the second case, concerning the environmental impact assessment procedures for certain major works, the Commission is sending Italy a final written warning under Article 226 of the Treaty.

European Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas i said: "EU environmental law aims to prevent damage to the environment and minimise health risks to European citizens. To ensure its citizens are provided the utmost protection I urge Italy to quickly put right the shortcomings of certain of its environmental laws in line with those of the EU."

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 (ECJ) in April 2008 on the inadequate transposition of the EU landfill directive^[1] into Italian law. Some of the directive's articles were not included into the corresponding national law and the transitional arrangement for compliance of existing landfills was incompatible with the directive.

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. Italy has still not completely implemented the missing measures of the directive, including those relating to waste acceptance criteria for waste going into landfills. For this reason the Commission is sending Italy a first written warning under Article 228 of the Treaty. Article 228 applies when a Member State has failed to comply fully with an ECJ judgement. It gives the Commission the power, after issuing two warnings, to take the Member State to the Court a second time and to ask for fines to be imposed.

Impact assessments

In the second case, the Commission is sending Italy a final written warning for adopting a law (Ordinance) that breaches EU rules requiring environmental impact assessments for certain development projects^[2].

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. In particular, according to the Ordinance, works can commence prior to the completion of environmental impact assessment procedures. Under EU law Member States must ensure that projects likely to have a significant impact on the environment are made subject to an environmental impact assessment before they are authorised and before work can begin.

A first warning letter was sent to the Italian authorities in June 2008. Given that the legal regime established by the Ordinance is still not in line with the relevant EU law and works have commenced on La Maddalena island prior to the completion of the environmental impact assessment process, the Commission is sending Italy a final warning letter.

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 within a specified period, 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 current statistics on infringements in general see:

http://ec.europa.eu/community_law/your_rights/your_rights_forms_en.htm#infractions

For rulings by the European Court of Justice see:

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

^[1] Directive 1999/31/EC on the landfilling of waste.

^[2] Directive 85/337/EC on environmental impact assessment, as amended.