The European Commission (EC) decided to take Romania to the Court of Justice of the EU for failing to review and adopt its national waste management plan and waste prevention programme, in line with the objectives of the EU Waste Framework Directive, the Commission announced on Thursday.

“Despite earlier warnings from the Commission, the Romanian authorities have failed to review and update their national waste management plan and waste prevention programme. This revision should have taken place at the latest by 2013. The Commission initiated the infringement procedure in September 2015 and sent a reasoned opinion to Romania in May 2016, urging the authorities to promptly adopt these core instruments required by the waste legislation,” reads the statement.

According to the European Commission, Romania is one of the most underperforming member state in terms of managing municipal solid waste, with the highest landfilling rate of 72%, far above the EU average of 25,6%, in 2015.

The Waste Framework Directive aims to protect the environment and human health by preventing or reducing the adverse impacts of the generation and management of waste and by reducing overall impacts of resource use and improving the efficiency of such use, EC announced. Under the Directive, member states had to adopt national waste management plans by December 12, 2010, and waste prevention programmes by December 12, 2013.

The European Commission has been checking the compliance with these obligations for all Member States. Infringement cases have been opened against several Member States such as Belgium, Cyprus, Croatia, Italy, France, Spain, and Slovenia.

In mid-February this year, the Commission also decided to take Romania to the EU Court of Justice because the local authorities have failed to close and rehabilitate 68 illegal landfills, “which represent a serious risk for human health and the environment”.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com