The European Commission has issued formal reprimands to a number member of states on a number of environment issues, including the EU Water Framework Directive and the Natura 2000 network.
In a set of decisions on potential infringements of EU law by member states, the commission announced that it has formally called on Poland to complete its Natura 2000 network, sending the country a ‘reasoned opinion’, which is the last step in the EU infringement procedure before the issue is referred to the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU).
The commission claimed that Poland has failed to ensure adequate protection of habitats and species “of EU interest” by designating nature protection (Natura 2000) areas.
According to the commission, under the Habitats Directive and Birds Directive, member states agreed to the development of a “coherent” European Natura 2000 network by proposing adequate sites of “community importance” to the commission.
The commission sent a letter of formal notice to Poland in July 2019 for failing to propose all the sites that should have been in line with the legal and scientific conditions.
The commission also claimed that some of the sites that Poland did propose did not adequately cover the various habitat types and species that needed protection.
The commission said it identified gaps in the completeness and the quality of the data for protected sites.
While it said that Poland has made some progress, the commission said the country has still not addressed all the identified shortcomings, and that breaches of obligations under EU law persist.
Therefore, the commission has decided to issue a reasoned opinion to Poland, which now has two months to respond and to take the measures the commission has outlined. Otherwise, the commissions may decide to refer the case to the (CJEU).
Meanwhile, the commission has sent a letter of formal notice to Sweden calling on the country to comply with the Water Frameworks Directive.
A letter of formal notice is the first step in the infringement process.
The directive requires member states to establish a programme of measures for each river basin district to ensure good status of European water bodies, such as rivers and lakes.
These measures must be included in the river basin management plans which must be established and reported to the commission every six years.
Each programme of measures must include basic measures to control different types of water abstraction, impoundment, point source discharge, diffuse sources liable to cause pollution, and any other significant adverse impacts on water quality.
Member states are required to periodically review and update these controls, including any water permits granted for these purposes.
The commission said that, in Sweden, national law does not provide for periodic reviews of the relevant controls, or, for some of the controls, the periodic reviews are not frequent enough.
According to the commission, many water abstractions in Sweden are operated without permits, and the water abstraction register – in which member states must list all abstractions having significant impact – is not comprehensive in Sweden’s case.
The country has two months to respond to the commission’s letter of formal notice and to address the issues. If it does not, the commission may then issue a reasoned opinion on the matter.