REPORTS
Second referral of Greece to the CJEU concerning a landfill site in Zakynthos; infringement: INFR(2009)2340
Α. Each Member State of the European Union must apply Union legislation and take the appropriate steps to achieve this. The European Commission is the body responsible for identifying possible violations of EU law.
Where a Member State does not apply EU law and has breached one of its obligations under the EU Treaties, the European Commission may open a formal infringement procedure under Articles 258 and 260 TFEU (see more on infringement proceedings in 1, 2, 3, 4).
Β. As mentioned in the “November infringements package, the European Commission has decided to refer Greece back to the Court of Justice of the European Union because it has still not closed a landfill site on the island of Zakynthos and therefore has not complied with a 2014 CJEU ruling. In particular, in July 2014, the CJEU had ruled that the landfill did not meet the conditions and requirements of EU environmental legislation (see the judgment of 17 July in case C-600/12). Following that letter, Greece decided to stop waste disposal operations at that landfill.
However, it did not restore or close the site and did not communicate a reliable timetable for the full implementation of the Court’s judgment. The European Commission has therefore decided to (re)refer the case to the CJEU under Article 260 TFEU.
Information about this procedure and the European Commission’s decisions on the infringement in question can be found on the European Commission’s website by entering INFR(2009)2340 in the “Infringement number” field.
The application of EU law is an obligation of the Member States of the European Union.
If possible breaches of EU law are identified, the European Commission can take a series of actions against the Member State concerned to ensure that EU law is correctly and fully applied by launching infringement proceedings under Articles 258 and 260 TFEU.
In November 2023, the European Commission decided to refer Greece to the Court of Justice of the European Union under Article 260 of the TFEU as it found that the country, having failed to close and restore a landfill site in Zakynthos, has not complied with a 2014 CJEU ruling.
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