Commission of the European Communities v Hellenic Republic.

• Jurisdiction: European Union
• ECLI: ECLI:EU:C:2004:451
• Court: Court of Justice (European Union)
• Date: 15 July 2004
• Docket Number: C-420/02
• Procedure Type: Recurso por incumplimiento – fundado
• Celex Number: 62002CC0420

OPINION OF ADVOCATE GENERAL

GEELHOED

delivered on 15 July 2004 (1)

Case C-420/02

Commission of the European Communities

v

Hellenic Republic

(Failure of a Member State to fulfil its obligations – Infringement of Articles 4 and 9 of Council Directive 75/442/EEC of 15 July 1975 on waste, as amended by Council Directive 91/156/EEC of 18 March 1991)

I – Introduction

1. In these proceedings brought under Article 226 EC the Commission requests the Court to declare that, by failing to adopt the necessary measures to ensure that the disposal or recovery of waste at the Péra Galini site in the prefecture of Heraklion will be carried out without endangering human health, without risk to water, air, soil, plants and animals and without causing a nuisance through noise or odours, and by granting a permit which does not contain the necessary information, the Hellenic Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations under Articles 4 and 9 of Directive 75/442/EEC on waste as amended by Directive 91/156/EEC (2) (hereinafter: the directive).

II – Legal framework

2. Article 4 of the directive provides:

3. ‘Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that waste is recovered or disposed of without endangering human health and without using processes or methods which could harm the environment, and in particular:

– without risk to water, air, soil and plants and animals,

– without causing a nuisance through noise or odours,

– without adversely affecting the countryside or places of special interest.

4. Member States shall also take the necessary measures to prohibit the abandonment, dumping or uncontrolled disposal of waste.’

5. According to Article 9(1) of the directive:

‘For the purposes of implementing Articles 4, 5 and 7, any establishment or undertaking which carries out the operations specified in Annex II A must obtain a permit from the competent authority referred to in Article 6.

6. …

III – Procedure

7. Following information received in the framework of petitions addressed to the European Parliament on the illegal deposit of waste at the Péra Galini site and the operation of the site without a permit, the Commission requested the Greek authorities by letter of 23 February 2000 to provide it with further information on the operating conditions of the site.

8. The Greek Government responded by letter of 10 May 2000. This was followed by consultations in December 2000 and a further letter of the Greek Government of 20 March 2001. The information provided did not, however, convince the Commission that the HellenicRepublic was acting in compliance with its obligations under Articles 4 and 9 of the directive. It therefore addressed a formal notice to the Greek Government on 24 April 2001.

9. Considering that the Greek authorities had still not taken adequate measures to comply with the relevant provisions of the directive in response to the formal notice, the Commission sent the HellenicRepublic a reasoned opinion on 21 December 2001. Even after the expiry of the two‑month term set in the reasoned opinion on 20 February 2002, the Greek authorities, in the Commission’s view, had not succeeded in complying with the directive. It therefore lodged the present application which was registered at the Court on 21 November 2002.

IV – Assessment of the Commission’s complaints

10. The HellenicRepublic acknowledges that it has...