Illustrative stock photo (source: SME - Tibor Somogyi)
The European Commission has sued Slovakia at the Court of Justice of the EU, proposing a fine for the country’s failure to comply with the 2013 judgement to ensure that decisions on the operation of the landfill in Žilina-Považský Chlmec are taken in line with EU rules, thereby avoiding serious risks for health and the environment.
The Court of Justice of the EU ruled on April 25, 2013 that Slovakia violated the EU law by authorising the operation of the existing landfill Žilina-Považský Chlmec without a site conditioning plan and by not having taken a final decision on the operation of the landfill on the basis of such an approved site conditioning plan.
Slovakia has still not taken a definite decision regarding the status of the landfill, the EC stated in a press release.
The EC has turned to the Court of Justice of the EU to impose the minimum lump sum of €939,000 and a daily fine of €6,793.80 which would be paid from the date of the court’s ruling until the Slovak authorities fully comply with EU law. These penalties, proposed by the EC under the Lisbon Treaty, take into account the duration of the infringement, its gravity, and the size of the member state. The final decision on the penalties rests with the court, the EC stated.
Under the Landfill Directive, all member states had to close non-compliant existing landfills by July 16, 2009 unless they provided the appropriate ‘site conditioning plans’ – with planned measures to meet the requirements of the directive – which would allow them to continue to accept waste for disposal. Although the Žilina landfill is no longer taking waste, there has been no real progress in the procedure for its closure in line with the Landfill Directive. The EC has, therefore, decided to take Slovakia back to the Court of Justice of the EU and to propose fines, the press release reads.
