EU: Infringement proceedings

United Kingdom

The European Commission has decided to revert Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, Italy and Greece to the European Court of Justice for their failure to adopt and inform the Commission of their waste management plans to comply with three EU Directives on waste: the Framework Waste Directive, the Hazardous Waste Directive and the Packaging Waste Directive. Germany has submitted a number of adopted waste plans to the Commission, however, these do not represent a complete coverage of all the German “Länder” or all types of waste. Luxembourg has sent in a draft plan which was expected to be adopted by September, however, given the delay, the Commission is pursuing infringement proceedings. Spain have not formerly communicated their national plan for municipal waste and Italy have failed to transmit plans for waste management in certain regions, with many of the plans that have been transmitted being deficient, lacking information on types and quantities of waste. Greece has provided information on waste management, however the Commission considers that these do not constitute waste management plans.
(European Commission, September 1999)