Today the European Commission decided to refer Greece back to the Court of Justice of the European Union for failing to close a landfill site on the island of Zakynthos, within a Natura 2000 site protected area. The landfill is a threat to public health and the environment and is causing pollution in the local environment. Although the landfill site has not been operational for more than five years, it needs not only to be closed but also rehabilitated to comply with a 2014 Court judgement.
On 17 July 2014, the Court of Justice ruled (C-600/12) that the landfill in question does not comply with the conditions and requirements of EU environmental legislation, and that Greece was continuing to operate a malfunctioning landfill site. The Commission sent a letter of formal notice to the Greek authorities on 28 April 2017 for not complying with the ruling of the Court. Following this final reminder, Greece decided to stop waste disposal operations at the landfill site. However, although new waste has not been sent to the Zakynthos landfill for more than five years, it has still not been rehabilitated with the Court judgment. The various cut-off dates communicated by Greece to the Commission have all been postponed and Greece has thus failed to communicate a credible timetable for the full implementation of the Court judgment.
The European Green Deal, with its Zero Pollution ambition, calls for air, water and soil pollution to be reduced to levels no longer considered harmful to human health and natural ecosystems. Full implementation of the standards in EU legislation is important to effectively protect human health and safeguard the natural environment.
Therefore, the Commission has decided to refer this case back to the Court of Justice of the European Union. This second referral to Court may result in financial penalties for the time elapsed from the first judgment until achieving compliance. It should be recalled that Greece already pays fines in two cases related to waste management.
Background
The Landfill Directive (Directive 99/31/EC) sets standards for landfills to prevent adverse effects on human health, water, soil and air. It aims to ensure a progressive reduction of landfilling of waste, in particular waste that is suitable for recycling and other recovery. It also aims to prevent or reduce as far as possible the negative effects on the environment from landfilling of waste, throughout the whole life-cycle of the landfill site.
The Commission is pursuing several other cases against Greece for failing to properly implement waste legislation. Greece currently pays fines for operating illegal landfills and failing to properly manage hazardous waste throughout the country. In another case, the Court found that the Kiato landfill is operating in breach of EU waste and landfill legislation. Finally, the Commission also sent a letter of formal notice to Greece in 2021 to urge the Greek authorities to properly treat waste before storage in 84 landfill sites.
