Commissie daagt Griekenland voor de rechter wegens inbreuken op EU-milieuwetten (en)

The European Commission will refer Greece to the European Court of Justice in three cases involving EU environmental law. The Commission's actions are aimed at strengthening Greek law in order to provide better protection against air pollution and to clean up Lake Koronia, an internationally important wetland that has been harmed by over-abstraction of water and serious industrial and agricultural pollution. The final case aims at getting Greece to transpose the Emissions Trading Directive, one of the most important EU initiatives to combat global climate change.

Environment Commissioner, Stavros Dimas, said: "Greek citizens are very proud of the rich biodiversity of their country and are also very concerned about air pollution. It is important to preserve the natural wealth of Greece and improve the quality of ambient air, especially in big cities. This is our legacy to future generations. Full implementation of EU legislation will ensure this. Greece must therefore improve its practices and make additional efforts to implement EU environmental law correctly."

Decisions to refer Greece to the European Court of Justice

The Commission will refer Greece to the European Court of Justice in three cases.

;
• The first concerns pollution and degradation of Lake Koronia.

The lake is an internationally important wetland situated in the prefecture of Thessaloniki. It is mostly affected by heavy water abstraction for irrigation purposes, leading to a drastically reduced water level of the lake. The lake is also seriously polluted by discharges of nutrients, heavy metals and other pollutants from industries and towns in the surrounding area, which have led to eutrophication (i.e. over-enrichment by nutrients, leading to depletion of oxygen in the water).

The Commission considers that Greece has not established and effectively implemented an appropriate legal protection and conservation framework and has not taken adequate measures to prevent the degradation of the lake and disturbance of fauna and flora. In particular, Greece needs to adopt and implement an adequate legal regime aiming at the conservation of the lake and at the reduction of pollution caused by dangerous substances.

In addition, Greece should take concrete measures in order to improve the treatment of urban and industrial waste-water and reduce the harmful effects of intensive agriculture. Greece has an obligation to do this under the Wild Birds Directive^[1], the Habitats Directive^[2] and the Dangerous Substances in Water Directive^[3].

The former two directives provide for the protection of important nature sites such as Lake Koronia and the habitats, species and birds found there, while the last-mentioned directive requires Member States to put in place programmes to reduce water pollution caused by heavy metals and other dangerous substances.

;
• The second decision relates to the failure by Greece to adopt and notify the necessary domestic legislation to give effect to the Ozone Directive^[4].

The transposition of this Directive was due by 9 September 2003. The Ozone Directive obliges Member States to inform and alert the population to stay inside and close the windows when ground-level ozone concentrations (smog) in the air reach certain thresholds, and to consider measures to reduce the levels, e.g. by restricting road traffic. The Directive also defines long-term objectives to protect human health and vegetation from ground-level ozone. At higher concentrations, ground-level ozone can cause respiratory problems and aggravate asthma, particularly in elderly people and children, and it can also limit growth of crops and forests. Ground-level ozone concentrations usually increase when temperatures are high. It is therefore particularly important that Greece implements the Directive.

;
• The third decision relates to EU emissions trading legislation. ;

Along with several other Member States, Greece has not yet adopted national implementing legislation to give effect to a directive establishing an EU greenhouse gas emissions trading system^[5] starting on 1 January 2005 ("the Emissions Trading Directive"). The deadline for doing so expired on 31 December 2003.

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" (second and 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.

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, again by issuing a first written warning ("Letter of Formal Notice") and then a second and final written warning ("Reasoned Opinion"). The article then 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://europa.eu.int/comm/secretariat_general/sgb/droit_com/index_en.htm

For rulings by the European Court of Justice see:

http://curia.eu.int/en/content/juris/index.htm

^[1] Council Directive 79/409/EEC on the conservation of wild birds

^[2] Council Directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild flora and fauna

^[3] Council Directive 76/464/EEC on pollution caused by certain dangerous substances discharged into the aquatic environment of the Community

[4] Directive 2002/3/EC of the European Parliament and Council relating to ozone in ambient air

^[5] Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 2003 establishing a scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading within the Community