Commission of the European Communities v Italian Republic

Abstract

The Commission brought action against the Italian Republic on 26 October 2000 for a declaration that Italy had failed to fulfill its obligation under Council Directives. The basis was that Italy had not ensured that by 31 December 1998 at the latest the discharges of urban waste water of the city of Milan were subject to stringent treatment requirements demanded by EC Directives. Milan is located within a catchments area draining into areas of the delta of the River Po and the north west coast of the Adriatic Sea. The Italian authorities contested that the city area was neither part of a sensitive area nor a relevant catchments area of a sensitive area; and that the relevant Decree had not defined the whole of Italy as a sensitive area. They argued inter alia that they were not required to subject the waste in question to more stringent treatment in so far as it did not, at least not directly, discharge into an area identified as sensitive by the Decree. According to the Commission, all urban waste water from agglomerations of more than 10 000 p.e. and which reached sensitive areas, either directly or by passing through catchment areas, had to be treated using the more stringent treatment method by 31 December 1998 at the latest. The court held that the second subparagraph of Article 3(1) of Directive 91/271, concerning the treatment of urban waste water, which dealt with discharges of urban waste water into receiving waters considered sensitive areas, and Article 5(2) of the Directive, which required urban waste water entering collecting systems to be subjected to more stringent treatment before discharge into sensitive areas, made no distinction between direct and indirect discharges into sensitive areas. Moreover, Article 174(2) EC provided that Community policy on the environment was to aim at a high level of protection. That objective would be undermined if only waste water which discharged directly into a sensitive area had to be subjected to stringent treatment. The court therefore held that Italy had failed to fulfill its obligations under Article 5 (2) of the Council Directives 91/676/EEC of 12 December 1991 and 91/271/EEC of 12 May 1991 by not ensuring that by 31 December 1998 at the latest, discharges of urban waste water of the city of Milan (within a relevant catchments area draining into areas of the delta of the River Po and the north west coast of the Adriatic Sea as defined by Decree- Law 152 of the Italian Republic of 11 May 1999) and provisions for prevention of water pollution, and urban waste-water treatment were subject to the treatment prescribed by Articles 4 and 5 (2) of the said Directives.

Full text

Commission of the European Communities v Italian Republic C_396_00.pdf

Website

eur-lex.europa.eu

References

Cites

Council Directive 91/271/EEC concerning urban waste water treatment.

Legislation | European Union | 1991

Keyword: Pollution control, Effluent waste water/discharge, Freshwater pollution, Surface water, Waste domestic sources, Waste non-domestic sources, Basin/catchment/watershed, Inland waters

Source: FAO, FAOLEX