Italy: Commission pursues legal action over infringements of environmental laws - Main contents
The European Commission is pursuing legal action against Italy over three cases in which EU legislation to protect the environment is being violated. One case concerns Italy's failure to comply fully with a European Court of Justice (ECJ) judgement condemning it for not carrying out an environmental impact assessment of a new waste incinerator. 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 other two cases, the Commission is sending Italy final written warnings under Article 226 of the Treaty over a river water abstraction project which is harming a protected wildlife site and the failure of a local authority to verify whether a strategic environmental assessment of a new land-use plan was needed.
EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas i said: "Carrying out an assessment of the environmental impacts of new plans and projects and consulting the public on their views before a final decision is taken is an essential element of good governance. The Council and Parliament have set down these procedures in EU legislation and all Member States need to respect them. I hope Italy will also act quickly to stop the damage being done to the Basso Trebbia wildlife site."
Article 228 action over environmental assessment of waste incinerator
The case concerns Italy's failure to carry out an environmental impact assessment (EIA) for a new waste incinerator at Massafra, in the Puglia region, in violation of the EU's EIA Directive.The directive requires Member States to carry out an impact assessment (EIA) of certain types of development projects that could have a significant impact on the environment before a decision is taken on whether to authorise them. A public consultation must be held and its results taken into account in the final decision.
In a case brought by the Commission, Italy was condemned by the ECJ in November 2006 over the Massafra incinerator and another breach of the EIA Directive. An ex-post EIA of the incinerator has now been launched but this fails to provide for an effective public consultation as required by the directive. The Commission has therefore decided to send 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.
Final written warning over water project in nature site
The Commission is sending Italy a final written warning over a water abstraction project on the river Trebbia in the Emilia-Romagna region which is damaging a valuable wildlife habitat that forms part of the EU's Natura 2000 network of protected sites. The 'Basso Trebbia' site is designated both as a Site of Community Importance under the EU Habitats Directive[2] and as a Special Protection Area under the directive on the conservation of wild birds.[3]
The Italian authorities carried out an assessment of the water abstraction project's effects on the site which concluded that a certain 'minimum vital flow' of water in the river should be ensured to prevent damage. However, the authorisation granted to the project requires the minimum vital flow to be respected from 2009 but only a fraction of this level until then. This reduced water flow is damaging the ecological value of the site, which constitutes a breach of the Habitats Directive. The sending of a final written warning under Article 226 means that the Commission is likely to take the case before the ECJ if Italy does not resolve the problem quickly.
Final written warning over land use plan
The Commission is also sending Italy a final written warning over the failure of a local authority to verify whether a strategic environmental assessment (SEA) was needed before approving a detailed land use plan.
This infringes the EU's SEA Directive,[4] whose purpose is to ensure that the environmental consequences of certain plans and programmes are identified and assessed before they are adopted. Under the Directive, for certain plans, including those which determine the use of small areas at local level, Member States have to determine whether an SEA is necessary through a "screening" process that must be based on certain criteria listed in Annex II of the Directive.
In the case of the land use plan adopted for the municipality of Staranzano in Gorizia province, the decision of the competent authorities not to carry out an SEA was not based on the correct criteria. The sending of a final written warning under Article 226 means that the Commission is likely to take the case before the ECJ if Italy does not resolve the problem quickly.
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” (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, usually two months.
If the Member State fails to comply with the Reasoned Opinion, the Commission may decide to bring the case before the 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. The article also 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/environment/law/index.htm
[1] Directive 85/337 as amended
[2] Directive 92/43/EEC
[3] Directive 79/409/EEC
[4] Directive 2001/42/EC