MEP puts his country in dock over environment

By Karen Carstens

Date: 27/11/03

GREECE deserves its reputation as the EU's environmental "bad guy", one of its own MEPs has admitted.

At present, the European Commission has 92 files open on Greece's failure to respect the Union's environmental laws, the EU executive revealed in an answer to a written question from Mihail Papayannakis, a member of the European United Left/Nordic Green Left group. Of these, 24 relate to waste management, 19 each to environmental impact assessment and protection of nature, 13 to atmospheric pollution, 11 to the protection of water and six to other areas of environmental law.

Nine of the cases have already been sent for rulings by the European Court of Justice and the Commission has sent a "reasoned opinion" on 11 others - the final step before commencing legal proceedings - and 42 are in other stages of the legal process.

Notably, three of the cases concern Greece's failure to comply with rulings already made by the ECJ. The cases concern water pollution, disposal of hazardous waste and failure to protect a certain species of turtle - the caretta - on the island of Zakynthos. Heavy fines could follow.

"I am really shocked at the extent to which Greece is failing to respect Community environmental law," said Papayannakis.

• A CONTROVERSIAL Greek law could result in the loss of up to ten million acres of forest land, say Green MEPs.

Ecologoi Prasinoi, a newly formed Greek Green party, the European Federation of Green Parties and the Green/EFA Group in the Parliament say the proposed bill will "redefine" the concept of protected forest land in order to bypass constitutional protection.

One third of the country might be stripped of its protected status and opened up to development, the groups fear.

Greek MEP, Mihail Papayannakis, says that Greece deserves its reputation as the EU environmental 'bad guy'. The European Commission has 92 files open on Greece's failure to respect EU environmental law.