Greece counts the cost of defying ECJ

Date: 06/07/2000

By Tim Jones

THE European Court of Justice's decision to impose daily fines on a recalcitrant member state for the first time this week could help to cut a 3,519-backlog of unresolved cases, according to EU lawyers.

They say the speed with which Greece acted to avoid paying a €20,000-per-day fine for ignoring a previous ECJ ruling served notice on other governments of the penalty's effectiveness.

The Court had ruled in 1992 that Athens had failed to take action required under EU laws passed in 1975 and 1979 to prevent military bases and hospitals dumping toxic waste in the Cretan river of Kouroupitos, thereby endangering "human health and the environment".

Just days before the ECJ decided this week how to punish Greece for its defiance, the government passed a law to permit the construction of a waste recycling plant near the river within two years - and promised end dumping and convert non-toxic waste to compost in the meantime.

As the Court examines two other potential fine cases - another against Greece for failing to recognise college diplomas from other member states and one against France for restricting women's night shifts - EU lawyers are hoping to use this week's ruling to speed up progress on other alleged breaches of Union law. Figures published by the European Commission last month put France top of the non-compliance league with 464 cases under investigation, followed by Italy with 386, Spain with 379, Germany with 376 and Greece with 308.

But sceptics point out that although the Greeks are acting swiftly now to comply with the court order, the original complaint was filed in 1987. "It cannot be right that it takes 13 years to get justice," said one legal expert.

The European Court of Justice's decision to impose daily fines on a recalcitrant Member State for the first time could help to cut a 3,519 backlog of unresolved cases, according to EU lawyers.