In July a great number of cases against Member States were recorded.

Some breaches of legislation affected a number of member states and these are noted first.

The Annexe then sets out (in alphabetical order) Member States and breaches of legislation recorded in July 2005. 

The abbreviation ECJ refers to the European Court of Justice.

Strategic Environmental Assessment: The Commission is taking legal action against twelve Member States for failing to incorporate into national law an EU law aimed at assessing the environmental impacts of a wide range of plans and programmes. These include plans on land use, road construction or waste management.  Adopted in 2001, the SEA Directive (Directive 2001/42/EC ) complements the EU's 1985 Environmental Impact Assessment Directive (Directive 85/337/EEC). National laws should have been in place by 21 July 2004. The Member States concerned are Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Greece, Spain, Finland (concerning the province of Åland only), Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal and Slovakia. The EU law in question – known as the Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive - seeks to ensure that national decision-makers examine the environmental effects of plans and programmes before approving them.

Environmental noise: Commission takes legal action against eleven Member States. The following Member States have been asked to transpose Directive 2002/49/EC on the assessment and management of environmental noise into their national legislation: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal and the United Kingdom. For EU noise policy see: http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/noise/home.htm

Electronic and electrical waste: The Commission is taking legal action against eight Member States. Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Poland and the UK must transpose into their national laws three EU Directives on electronic and electrical waste.  Directive 2002/96/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 January 2003 on waste electrical and electronic equipment, as amended by Directive 2003/108/EC (2) Directive 2003/108/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 December 2003 amending Directive 2002/96/EC on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) and (3) Directive 2002/95/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 January 2003 on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment

Public access to environmental information: Commission takes legal action against seven Member States. Belgium, France, Italy, Greece, Hungary, Luxembourg and Spain have not yet transposed the Directive, the Commission decided to send them a final written warning. Adopted in 2003, the new Directive on public access to environmental information replaces an earlier Directive dating from 1990.

INFORMATION ON ACTIONS AGAINST CERTAIN EU MEMBERS STATES – presented in ALPHABETICAL ORDER

BELGIUM: The European Commission has sent Belgium final written warnings in five cases involving breaches of EU environment laws

Landfill : The Commission has sent Belgium a final written warning that it faces possible action before the European Court of Justice over environmental problems related to a landfill situated in the Walloon Region at Flobecq. A lack of adequate controls on the release of pollutants contravenes EU laws aimed at protecting surface and groundwaters. (Directive 76/464/EEC and Directive 80/68/EEC, respectively) Evidence indicates that EU waste laws are also being breached Uncontrolled dumping contravenes the Framework Directive on waste (Directive 75/442/EEC), while the lack of a rehabilitation plan contravenes the Landfill Directive (Directive 99/31/EC) 

Noise, strategic environmental assessment and public access to environmental information The Commission has sent Belgium, along with several other Member States, final warnings for failing to notify the Commission of its national implementing legislation for EU laws

Threats to European hamster Belgium has been sent a final written warning over inadequate measures to protect the European hamster, Cricetus cricetus, which is threatened with extinction in Belgium. Since 1994, the EU Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC) requires Member States to strictly protect this species.

FRANCE: The Commission has sent France a final written warning for non-compliance with a judgement delivered by the ECJ on 27 November 2003 over the failure to correctly transpose into national law  EU directive 90/219/EEC on the contained use of genetically modified micro-organisms (GMMs) (case C-429/01). In its national legislation, France has failed to ensure that emergency plans are drawn up for the nearby population in the event of an accident, that emergency services are made aware of the hazards, and that the public is informed about the safety measures in place and the correct behaviour. If France continues to be non-compliant, the European Commission may ask the Court to impose a financial penalty on France.

GMO legislation The Commission has also sent France a first written warning for non-compliance with a judgement delivered by the ECJ on 15 July 2004 (case C-419/03). This concerns failure to adopt and communicate national legislation on an EU law to control the release of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) into the environment (Directive 2001/18/EC on the deliberate release into the environment of genetically modified organisms, repealing Council Directive 90/220/EEC), both for experimental purposes and in connection with the placing on the market of a GMO. Landfills The Commission has sent France another first written warning for non-compliance with a judgement delivered by the ECJ on 5 December 2004 (case C-172/04). The case concerns France's failure to fully adopt and communicate national legislation to give effect to an EU law on landfills (Council Directive 1999/31/EC on the landfill of waste). Necessary French legislation is still incomplete. The missing measures concern waste acceptance procedures as well as inert waste.

Birds Directive: Lack of protection for the Bearded vulture France has been sent a final written warning for insufficient designation and protection of sites hosting a rare wild bird species, the Bearded vulture (Gypaetus Barbatus). This represents a violation of the Birds Directive (Council Directive 79/409/EEC on the conservation of wild birds), which mentions the Bearded vulture as particularly threatened and in need of special protection. The Bearded vulture is one of the rarest raptors in Europe, with some 250 couples remaining. It inhabits exclusively high mountainous areas (500 - 4,000 m). Thirty percent of the species’ European population is found in France

Lack of protection of the ozone layer : France has been sent another final written warning because it has not met its reporting obligations with regard to the quarantine and pre-shipment (QPS) use of methyl bromide, a highly ozone-depleting pesticide that is being phased out. Methyl bromide depletes the Earth's ozone layer.  Its use for QPS treatments is still allowed to ensure that traded crops are pest-free since alternatives for this specific use are only slowly developed. The EU’s Regulation on substances that deplete the ozone layer (Regulation (EC) No 2037/2000 of 29 June 2000 on substances that deplete the ozone layer) envisages that all uses of ozone-depleting substances, including methyl bromide, will be ceased. France has failed to provide complete reports for 2001, 2002 and 2003. Correct reporting is important for the Commission to keep track of the  EU’s use of methyl bromide – and to meet international obligations.

Further final warnings before Court action: Alongside several other Member States, France has been sent final warnings for failing to notify to the Commission its national implementing legislation for EU laws on noise, on public access to environmental information and on waste electrical and electronic equipment and hazardous materials in such equipment. Similar action is being taken against several other Member States, as noted above.

GERMANY: first warning to comply with Court ruling concerning GMO legislation

The Commission has sent Germany a first written warning for non-compliance with a judgement delivered by the European Court of Justice on 15 July 2004 (case C-420/03). The case concerns the failure to adopt and communicate national legislation to give effect to an EU law  (Directive 2001/18/EC of 12 March 2001 on the deliberate release into the environment of genetically modified organisms and repealing Council Directive 90/220/EEC ) aimed at controlling the release of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) into the environment.

GREECE: The Commission takes action over eight breaches of environmental law.

GMOs: The Commission has sent Greece a first follow-up written warning for non-compliance with a judgement delivered by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on 27 January 2005 (case C-416/03). The case concerns the failure to adopt and communicate national legislation to give effect to an EU law (Directive 2001/18/EC on the deliberate release into the environment of genetically modified organisms and repealing Council Directive 90/220/EEC )

Protection of the ozone layer The Commission has decided to refer Greece to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for incompletely implementing several provisions of the EU’s Regulation on substances that deplete the ozone layer (Regulation 2037/2000).

Urban wastewater treatment Greece has been sent a final warning for failure to adequately treat the wastewater discharged from 24 towns of more than 15,000 inhabitants. The EU’s Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (91/271/EEC ) set a 31 December 2000 deadline for ‘secondary’ (i.e biological) treatment to be in place before water is discharged from cities and towns of this size.

Plans to combat air pollution Greece has been sent a final warning for not complying with EU rules that require pollution-reduction plans for areas affected by high levels of air pollution – in particular nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter (PM10). The first plans were due by 31 December 2003. In 1996, the EU adopted a framework Directive for assessing and managing ambient air quality  (Directive 96/62 of 27 September 1996 on ambient air quality and management).  This was followed in 1999 by a "daughter Directive" (Directive 1999/30 of 22 April 1999 relating to limit values for sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and oxides of nitrogen, particulate matter and lead in ambient air) setting limit values for the pollutants nitrogen dioxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter (PM10) as well as sulphur dioxide and lead. The limit values are to be met by certain dates and not to be exceeded thereafter. The deadline for PM10 is 2005, whereas the limit value for nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) must be complied with from 2010 on.  First reports on plans were due by 31 December 2003. Greek authorities have reported high levels of NO2 and PM10 in Attiki, Patra and Thessaloniki, the three main urban areas of the country where 60% of the population lives. However, while pollution-reduction plans are in preparation, they have not yet been finalised and sent to the Commission.

Failure to define move towards best available technology for turbine units at power station:  In judgment (C-364/03) Full text of this Judgment Greece was ordered to pay costs for failing to fulfil its obligations under Article 13 of Council Directive 84/360/EEC of 28th June 1984 on the combating of air pollution from industrial plants in a power station located in Crete.

 EU laws on noise, strategic environmental assessment, public access to environmental information, and waste electrical and electronic equipment. Greece has been sent final warnings for failing to notify to the Commission its national implementing legislation. Similar action is being taken against several other Member States.

IRELAND: Protection of the ozone layer The Commission has sent Ireland a final warning for non-compliance with a judgement delivered by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in October 2004 (case C-406/03). The Court ruled that Ireland had failed to report to the Commission on how it is implementing a number of provisions of the EU’s Regulation on substances that deplete the ozone layer (Regulation 2037/2000). The provisions that figure in the ECJ ruling concern systems for promoting the recovery of used ozone-depleting substances and the establishment of minimum qualification requirements for technical personnel. Ireland was also judged to have failed to take all precautionary measures practicable to prevent and minimise leakages of methyl bromide, an ozone-depleting substance used for fumigation. Ireland is the only Member State not to have provided this information, for which the deadline was 31 December 2001.

There are also two Court referrals and one warning over breaches of the environmental impact assessment procedure The Commission has taken three separate decisions in relation to Ireland’s implementation of the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive.  In two cases, the Commission has decided to refer Ireland to the European Court of Justice due to shortcomings in the Irish legislation governing environmental impact assessments (EIAs) on fish farms, projects for the restructuring of rural land holdings, projects for the use of uncultivated land or semi-natural areas for intensive agriculture and water management projects for agriculture. The reason is failure to take enough account of sensitive nature sites or of cumulative effects, i.e. smaller individual projects having a significant impact when added together. The environmental damage that can result includes loss of archaeological monuments, infill of ecologically valuable wetlands and fragmentation of open terrain.

Separately, the Commission is also sending Ireland a final warning because of the way it is applying EIA rules to forestry projects. In 1999, Ireland was condemned by the Court for inadequate EIA rules covering the activity (ECJ Case C-392/96). Ireland has since tightened up its legislation, but in practice it is still allowing afforestation of areas of landscape and nature sensitivity without the forms of impact assessment envisaged by the Directive.  There are already a number of other ongoing cases against Ireland concerning the EIA Directive. Amongst other things, these address the charging of fees to the public to express an opinion, the tolerance of illegal developments and the division of impact assessment responsibilities between planning authorities and Ireland’s Environmental Protection Agency.

Noise Ireland, along with several other Member States, has been sent a final warning for failing to notify the Commission of its national implementing legislation for an EU law on noise.

Failings in relation to protection of wild habitats - Case filing C-183/05. Court notice for the OJ Ireland was ordered to pay costs for failings in relation to Directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora.

ITALY: According to a judgment (C-79/05) Italy has not fully legislated in time to implement Regulation (EC) No 2037/2000 of 29 June 2000 on substances that deplete the ozone layer and has been ordered to pay costs. Full text of this Judgment.

Excluding excavated rocks intended for re-use from definition of waste: Case against Italy for Case filing C-194/05 Court notice for the OJ The European Commission takes the view that the Italian Republic, in so far as it excludes excavated earth and rocks intended for re-use for re-filling, infilling, embanking and grinding, from the scope of national rules on waste, has failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 1(a) of Directive 75/442/EEC on waste as amended by Directive 91/156/EEC.

LUXEMBOURG: The European Commission is to pursue infringement proceedings against Luxembourg in five cases of breaches of EU environment law. 

Urban waste water: The Commission has decided to refer Luxembourg to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) because it has not taken measures required to ensure proper treatment of urban wastewater under the EU's Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (Council Directive 91/271/EEC of 21 May 1991 concerning urban waste water treatment).

Consumer information on CO₂ emissions from new cars: Luxembourg has been sent a final written warning because it has failed to submit a report to the Commission on the effectiveness of an EU directive requiring Member States to provide consumers with information on the CO₂ emissions of all new cars (Directive 1999/94/EC)

Noise, strategic environmental assessment and public access to environmental information: Luxembourg has been sent final warnings for failing to notify the Commission of its national implementing legislation for EU laws

PORTUGAL: The European Commission has decided to pursue infringement proceedings against Portugal in six cases involving breaches of EU environmental law.

Environmental impact assessment: Checks by the Commission have revealed that several provisions of the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive (85/337/EEC, as amended by Directive 97/11/EC),  have not been correctly transposed by Portugal’s decree-law of 2000. The Directive requires authorities to examine the environmental impacts of infrastructure projects so that they can be taken into account in the authorisation process. It also provides for public consultation, and these results must be taken into account in the authorisation process. Examples of the Portuguese law’s shortcomings include not fully incorporating criteria for screening whether individual projects require an assessment, and failing to require that developers provide information on alternatives to the projects they propose. The Commission sent Portugal a final written warning over the case on 22 December 2004

Incineration of hospital waste: The Commission has sent Portugal a final written warning - the last step before a Court referral - over the continued operation of an incineration plant for hospital waste in the centre of Lisbon without a permit. This violates both the EU's Waste Framework Directive Council Directive 75/442/EEC of 15 July 1975 on waste, as amended by Directive 91/156/EEC and Directive 2000/76/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 December 2000 on the incineration of waste which require such operations to be permitted by the authorities.  This case originated from a complaint pointing to three non-permitted hospital incinerators in the Lisbon region. Two were immediately closed.

Urban wastewater treatment: Portugal has been sent a final written warning for failure to adequately treat the wastewater discharged from 17 cities and towns of more than 15,000 inhabitants (Breach of Directive 91/271/EEC which set a deadline of 31 December 2000 for so-called secondary (i.e. biological) treatment to be in place before water is discharged from cities and towns of this size). The Commission sent a first written warning on 9th July 2004 in relation to 29 cities and towns. In response, Portugal improved the situation in some locations and corrected information on population size and classification of receiving waters in some others, but not all

Air pollution: Portugal has been sent a final warning for not complying with EU rules that require pollution-reduction plans for areas affected by high levels of a number of air pollutants, including particulate matter (PM10). (Directive 96/62 of 27 September 1996 on ambient air quality and management and Directive 1999/30 of 22 April 1999 relating to limit values for sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and oxides of nitrogen, particulate matter and lead in ambient air) The first plans were due by 31 December 2003. The Portuguese authorities have reported high levels of PM10 in the Lisbon area (both Área Metropolitana de Lisboa Norte and Área Metropolitana de Lisboa Sul) and in Porto Litoral, the two biggest Portuguese cities. But they have not sent the required pollution-reduction plans. In response to the Commission’s first written warning on 7 October 2004, the authorities said that the plans were in preparation. None have yet been received.

SPAIN:  The Commission has decided to refer Spain to the European Court of Justice in two cases.  Protection of wild birds: One case relates to a planned irrigation project in the province of Lleida in Catalonia.  This would severely affect an area hosting a number of steppe bird species protected under EU law. They include Bonelli’s Eagle, the Stone Curlew, the Black-bellied Sandgrouse, the Pin-tailed Sandgrouse, the Dupont’s Lark and the Lesser Grey Shrike. In the EU's 1979 Birds Directive (Council Directive 79/409/EEC on the conservation of wild birds), they are listed as particularly threatened and in need of special conservation measures. Spain should have classified the habitats of these steppe birds as Special Protection Areas (SPAs) under the Directive, but has failed to do so. The Commission has already referred Spain before the ECJ for lack of sufficient designation of SPAs at national level (ECJ Case C-235/04).  In the Commission’s view Catalonia is one of the Autonomous Communities in Spain where further protection areas should be classified.

Protection of the ozone layer: The second case that the Commission will bring before the Court of Justice concerns Spain's failure to comply with the EU Regulation on substances that deplete the ozone layer (Regulation (EC) No 2037/2000 of 29 June 2000 on substances that deplete the ozone layer).  Member States have very detailed reporting obligations regarding measures to ensure the recovery, recycling, reclamation and destruction of the controlled substances and to prevent leakages. After warnings from the Commission Spain has sent some reports, but some important information is still missing.

Two further final warnings Alongside several other Member States, Spain has also received two final warnings before possible Court referrals for failure to transpose into its national legislation two EU Directives: the first concerns public access to information on the environment held by public authorities, and the second is a Directive to assess the environmental effects of a wide range of plans and programmes.

Commission's case for violation of bathing water and shellfish directives at three beaches was dismissed except for shellfish on one beach in an ECJ opinion (C-26/04) made in Luxembourg Full text of this Opinion  This related to 'officially designations' of  three beaches in Moana, Ria de Vigo, on Spain’s Galician coast.  It was decided that only one case was appropriate.  Spain had failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 5 of Council Directive 79/923/EEC of 30 October 1979 on the quality required of shellfish waters; each party was ordered to bear its own costs.

UNITED KINGDOM: The Commission is taking action over eight breaches of environmental law – the most advanced is Hazardous waste: The Commission has sent the UK a first warning letter following its failure to comply with a judgement by the European Court of Justice on 12 October 2004 (case C-431/02). Following the judgement, the UK adopted new legislation covering most the issues in the judgement for Scotland and sent a letter stating that new legislation would be put in place in the course of 2005 for the rest of the UK – no further confirmation has been received.

Urban wastewater treatment: The Commission has decided to refer the UK to the European Court of Justice for failure to adequately treat the wastewater discharged from 9 cities and towns in Northern Ireland, 2 in Kent, Brighton on the south coast and Lerwick (Shetland Islands) all of which have more than 15,000 inhabitants.  For cities/towns of this size, the EU’s Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive 91/271/EEC of 21 May 1991 requires the installation of wastewater collection systems and so-called “secondary (i.e. biological) treatment” by a deadline of 31 December 2000. 

Designation of waters sensitive to pollution by urban wastewater: The Urban Waste Water Directive also requires Member States to have identified rivers and coastal waters sensitive to pollution by wastewater discharges by 31 December 1993, and to update the list every four years. The first review was December 1997. Sensitivity of receiving waters is decisive in determining the level of treatment that wastewater must undergo before discharge. An assessment of the UK's 1997 review showed that the UK had failed to designate and protect all the rivers and coastal waters that are sensitive to eutrophication, due to a very restrictive interpretation of when a receiving water is sensitive.  Following warnings in 1999 and 2001, the U.K. provided further information and explained its approach: the Commission considers the U.K. lists still incomplete. Together with another infringement case regarding lack of designation and protection of sensitive rivers and coastal waters in Northern Ireland, this case is being sent to the ECJ.

Protection of the ozone layer: The UK has been sent a final warning before the Commission may refer the case to the Court as a result of failing to comply with an EU regulation governing substances that deplete the ozone layer.  This Regulation implements the 1987 Montreal Protocol in the EU.  The UK has not set out the minimum qualification requirements for personnel involved in the recovery, recycling and destruction of ozone-depleting substances. In addition, confirmation is awaited that necessary systems to support recovery, recycling and destruction of substances from Gibraltar are in place.

Assessment of effects on the environment - Directive 85/337/EEC : According to an opinion  by Advocate General Ruiz-Jarabo Colomer on 14th July 2005, the U.K. is in breach of its EU duties by giving local planning authorities discretion not to take action against uses of land that have been assessed as environmentally harmful: opinion (C-98/04) Full text of this Opinion The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to pay the costs

Noise and electro-waste: Along with several other Member States, the UK has received final warnings before possible Court referrals for failure to transpose into national legislation, by 18 July 2004, an EU law on noise and, by 13 August 2004, three Directives on waste electrical and electronic equipment.