European Law Enforcement Poor: Citizen Complaints Justified

BRUSSELS, Belgium, August 23, 2004 (ENS) - France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, and Spain have the worst records for implementing European environmental law according to a newly published annual report on law enforcement covering the year 2003.

The report by the European Commission said there are "serious shortcomings" in the implementation of EU environmental law, depriving citizens "of the high level of environmental protection that they expect."

The "Fifth Annual Survey on the implementation and enforcement of EU environmental law" shows that EU member states are late in transposing environmental laws passed at the European Union level, into the national laws of their own countries.

At the end of 2003, there were 88 cases in which environmental laws were not transposed on time.

Most shortcomings were found in the sectors of air, water, waste, nature protection and environmental impact assessments.

European air quality could be improved as shown here at Corus Steel Works, Teesside, England. (Photo courtesy FreeFoto)

Commenting on the report, Margot Wallstrom, who has served as environment commissioner for the past five years, said, "During my mandate, I have been struck by the high number of complaints about non-compliance with EU environmental law that we have received from citizens, NGOs and the Parliament."

"This survey shows that these concerns are justified," Wallstrom said, "implementation of EU environmental law is bad."

Margot Wallstrom of Sweden has been European Environment Commissioner for the past five years. (Photo courtesy European Commission)

The environment sector in 2003 represented over a third of all complaints and ongoing infringement cases before the European Court of Justice concerning non-compliance with EU law.

There are 509 ongoing infringement procedures related to violations of EU environmental law, and 505 new complaints in the year 2003.

Roughly a quarter of all infringement cases, the most serious type of case before the court, involve violations of air quality laws. Infringement of waste laws is the next most frequently brought to court, and then infringement of water quality laws.

Last year, the Court handed down judgements in a wide range of environmental sectors.

During 2003, the Court condemned Italy and the United Kingdom for failure to transpose the new law on the limitation of emissions of volatile organic compounds due to the use of organic solvents.

Spain failed to get the prior authorization that is required to operate three new municipal waste incineration plants in La Palma. The European Court of Justice ruled against Spain, which still has not complied, the survey shows. The Commission has sent Spain a letter of formal notice, asking it to comply with the Court judgement.

Austria failed to report the sulphur content of fuels used in its territory.

Spain, Greece, Portugal and Ireland have failed to supply information on what measures they have taken to promote the recovery, recycling, reclamation and destruction of controlled substances that deplete the ozone layer such as CFCs, HCFCs, halons, and methyl bromide, a pesticide and soil fumigant.

France was taken to court in 2003 for breaches of the water quality standards for nitrates set forth in the Drinking Water Directive.

Dry meadows on Vetrnik and Oslica mountains in Slovenia are rare semi-natural habitat protected under Eu law. (Photo courtesy Republic of Slovenia)

Spain was taken to court over the use of non-selective trapping methods, such as snares, to control foxes. "The Commission is concerned that these methods also trap certain strictly protected species under the Directive, such as the Iberian lynx," the report states. The Iberian lynx is the world's most endangered wild cat.

The Commission received many complaints, petitions and parliamentary questions about the operation of illegal or uncontrolled landfills, where waste disposal endangers human health and harms the environment in Spain, Greece, France, Italy.

The Commission decided in 2003 to lodge a Court application against Greece and Spain and issued reasoned opinions, a type of formal warning, to Italy and France.

Other countries were taken to task for inadequate disposal of waste oils, failure to draw up plans for the safe disposal of PCBs, and failures to adequately regulate industrial facilities.

Industrial pollution must be better controlled, the survey found. (Photo courtesy FreeFoto)

Wallstrom said she hopes the survey's findings will encourage member states to improve their compliance with the EU's environmental laws, especially now that the European Union has been enlarged to include 25 member states.

It is important to ensure that the new member states transpose and implement the body of environmental legislation correctly and within the agreed timeframes, Wallstrom said.

Taking states to the European Court of Justice is not necessarily the most efficient way to get compliance because the proceedings are time consuming, Wallstrom acknowledged in the report.

Now the Commission's Environment Directorate-General has developed a more proactive approach towards obtaining compliance from member states.

First, the Commission strives to anticipate implementation problems when it is designing environmental legislation, which has to be drafted in such a way as to make it "enforcement friendly."

A more encouraging way to obtain compliance includes regular contacts with officials responsible for implementation at national level and the offer of technical assistance. However, Wallstrom says, the Commission can only assist in implementation - the member states are the ones that must carry it out.