REPORTS
Greece’s non compliance with Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) decision in infringement of EU law: INFR (2011) 2027
In the event that a Member State does not apply Union law and fails to fulfill any of the obligations laid down in the EU Treaties, the European Commission may initiate formal infringement proceedings under Articles 258 and 260 TFEU (details of infringement proceedings here).
Article 260 TFEU states that: “1. If the Court of Justice of the European Union finds that a Member State has failed to fulfil an obligation under the Treaties, the State shall be required to take the necessary measures to comply with the judgment of the Court. 2. If the Commission considers that the Member State concerned has not taken the necessary measures to comply with the judgment of the Court, it may bring the case before the Court after giving that State the opportunity to submit its observations.”
In 2011, the Commission initiated infringement proceedings against Greece for failure to fulfill its above obligations [infringement number: INFR (2011) 2027]. The case was referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union, which issued its decision on 14 September 2017 (C-320/15). In the judgment, the Court held that, “by not having ensured secondary or equivalent treatment of urban waste water from the agglomerations of Prosotsani, Doxato, Eleftheroupoli, Vagia and Galatista, whose population equivalent is between 2 000 and 10 000, the Hellenic Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 4(1) of Council Directive 91/271/EEC of 21 May 1991 concerning urban waste water treatment as amended by Regulation (EC) No 1137/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2008.”
As mentioned in the “June Infringements Package: Main Decisions/9-6-2021“ the European Commission found that this infringement of EU law has continued into 2021 for two settlements – Prosotsani and Doxato. It therefore sent a letter of formal notice to Greece, calling on it to ensure the proper treatment of urban wastewater and to comply with both the requirements of Directive 91/271/EEC and the decision of the CJEU.
The application of EU law is an obligation of the Member States of the European Union. If possible breaches of EU law are detected, the European Commission may take a series of actions against that Member State to ensure the correct and full application of EU law by initiating infringement proceedings in accordance with Articles 258 and 260 of the TFEU.
In this case, the European Commission sent a letter of formal notice to Greece under Article 260 TFEU, calling on it to ensure the proper treatment of urban waste water and to comply with both the requirements of Directive 91/271 EEC and the CJEU decision of 14 September 2017 (C-320/15), as it ruled that the infringement in question is ongoing.
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