ENVIRONMENT: COMMISSION TAKES LEGAL ACTION AGAINST SEVERAL MEMBER STATES.

Summary: In its pre-Christmas crackdown on countries flouting EU environmental protection laws, the European Commission has made several announcements over the last few days to say it was starting new infringement proceedings or following up legal action against several EU Member States for their failure to comply with EU legislation. In some cases, the legal action comes the second time around with EU Court rulings not being respected.

Waste. The Commission has decided to make an application to the European Court of Justice against the United Kingdom for failure to adopt and notify the Commission of implementing legislation covering Gibraltar in respect of a number of environmental Directives, notably Directive 94/67/EEC on the incineration of hazardous waste. Draft legislation was sent by the United Kingdom in 1998, but the adopted legislation has not yet been received. The Commission has likewise sent a reasoned opinion to Germany and referred Ireland to the European Court of Justice for their failure to adopt and notify waste management plans complying with the following three European Union Directives - the Framework Waste Directive (74/442/EEC), the Hazardous Waste Directive (91/689/EEC) and the Packaging Waste Directive (94/62/EEC). Waste management plans are a key element in the EU's approach to waste, being intended to help achieve the objectives of waste prevention or reduction, waste recovery, environmentally-safe waste disposal and the establishment of an integrated and adequate network of disposal installations across the EU. While Germany has transmitted a number of adopted waste plans to the Commission, these do not appear to represent a complete coverage of all German Lander or of all types of waste. Moreover, in respect of several Lander, the notified plans do not contain a chapter on packaging waste. Likewise, the waste plans transmitted by Ireland do not cover all of the country or all kinds of waste. Dangerous substances. The EU executive has sent a letter of formal notice (under Article 171 of the Treaty) to Greece in relation to judgements of the Court of Justice (cases C-232/95 and C-233/95) concerning Article 7 of the Community Directive on pollution caused by certain dangerous substances discharged into the aquatic environment in the EU (Directive 76/464/EEC), with which Athens has failed to comply. The article requires Member States to prepare pollution reduction programmes involving a system of water quality...

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