Commissie geeft Britten laatste waarschuwing inzake invoering EU-richtlijnen rioolwater (en)
The European Commission is sending a final written warning to the United Kingdom asking it to comply with the 1991 Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive. Under this Directive,[1] sewage and other wastewater from all agglomerations with populations of over 15,000 is required to undergo secondary-level (ie biological) treatment before being discharged into rivers and other water bodies. The necessary treatment plants to achieve this should have been operational by 31 December 2000, but in the UK this has not yet been done for 14 agglomerations.
;Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said: "By not fully complying with this EU law, the UK is not delivering the level of protection against pollution from waste water that it signed up to and that British citizens deserve. I intend to give priority to ensuring that Member States live up to their commitments."
;Nine of the agglomerations are in Northern Ireland: Bangor, Carrickfergus, Coleraine, Londonderry, Larne, Newtownabbey, Omagh, Portrush and Donaghdee. Moreover, the situation in Northern Ireland risks being exacerbated by a decision to allow substantial new development to go ahead in some of the areas where no appropriate wastewater treatment is in place. This appears to be happening despite the authorities' own assessment that the developments pose a medium to high risk of having negative environmental impacts. Four agglomerations are in England, at Broadstairs and Margate in Kent, Brighton on the south coast and Bideford/Northam in Devon, and Lerwick is in Scotland.
;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, 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. The Court can make a judgement confirming that the Member State is in breach of its obligations. The Member State must take steps to comply with the judgement as soon as possible.
;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. Such action also involves the stages of a "Letter of Formal Notice" and "Reasoned Opinion". 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, please visit the following web-site:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/secretariat_general/sgb/droit_com/index_en.htm#infractions ;
;[1] Directive 91/271/EEC