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On 27 January 2003 the European Commission announced that it is taking legal proceedings against six Member States in support of environmental protection. Austria, Belgium, Finland, Germany, Greece and Ireland are deemed not to have correctly implemented one or more of a range of EU legislation concerning air quality, climate change and protection of the ozone layer.
'Air pollution is a serious local, regional, national and global problem.' said EU Environment Commissioner Margot Wallström. 'The Commission is committed to improving the quality of Europe's air, addressing climate change and safeguarding the ozone layer. If Member States agree to abide by environmental legislation they must transpose that legislation into their national legislation and adapt their governmental practices accordingly.'
The Commission's actions concern five separate pieces of legislation:
- Combating air pollution from industrial plants
'Directive 84/360/EEC on the combating of air pollution from industrial plants' is intended to reduce industrial air pollution by establishing a system of prior authorisation and by upgrading existing plants according to the BATNEEC principle - 'best available technology not entailing excessive cost'. The Commission believes that Greece has failed to adapt a power station at Linoperamata, Crete, in line with BATNEEC. Emissions from the power station are, consequently, higher than they should be and the Commission is to take Greece to the European Court of Justice.
- Emissions from non-road mobile machinery
Directive 2001/63/EC concerning 'measures against the emission of gaseous and particulate pollutants from internal combustion engines to be installed in non-road mobile machinery' should have been implemented by 30 June 2002. The Commission is concerned that it has not yet been notified that the Directive has been implemented in Belgium, Greece and Finland (the Province of Åland only).
- Large combustion plants
'Directive 88/609/EEC on the limitation of emissions of certain pollutants into the air from large combustion plants' (as amended by Directive 94/66/EC) aims to reduce air pollution from larger power plants. The Commission believes that Austria has failed to correctly implement the Directive in its national legislation by, for example, failing to distinguish between new and existing plant and by defining emission limit values for sulphur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen and dust too loosely.
- Monitoring average CO2 emissions from new passenger cars
Decision 1753/2000/EC 'establishing a scheme to monitor the average specific emissions of CO2 from new passenger cars' demands that every year Member States send the Commission data resulting from the monitoring of CO2 emissions from passenger cars. Ireland is being referred to the Court of Justice for failing to meet the July 2001 deadline for submitting the data.
- Protecting the ozone layer
Regulation 2037/2000 'on substances that deplete the ozone layer' requires Member States 'to supply information on measures taken to promote the recovery, recycling, reclamation and destruction of controlled substances such as CFCs, HCFCs, halons and methyl bromide.' They are also required to provide the Commission with data on various other aspects of ozone-depleting substances. Germany and Ireland have, according to the Commission, not fulfilled their obligations and each has therefore been sent a 'Reasoned Opinion'.
Where the Commission believes a Member State might be in breach of its legal obligations, it can issue a 'Letter of Formal Notice' asking the country concerned to respond by a specified date (usually within two months). Depending on the response received (if any) the Commission might then issue a Reasoned Opinion - a final written warning, in which the Commission states why an infringement is judged to have occurred and invites the Member State to comply within a specified period (normally two months). Failure to comply with a Reasoned Opinion can lead to a Member State being taken to the European Court of Justice.
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Eric Davies
Researcher
Compiled: Tuesday, 28 January 2003
On 27 January 2003 the European Commission announced that it is taking legal proceedings against six Member States in support of environmental protection. Austria, Belgium, Finland, Germany, Greece and Ireland are deemed not to have correctly implemented one or more of a range of EU legislation concerning air quality, climate change and protection of the ozone layer
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