HAVET & VANHUFFEL – Association d’avocats
Greece was condemned by a judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union of 17 July 2014, Commission v Greece (C-600/12 – https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/FR/TXT/?uri=CELEX:62012CJ0600) for failure to fulfil its obligations under Article 260(1) TFEU, declaring and ruling that:
« The Hellenic Republic,
– by maintaining in operation on the island of Zakynthos, at Gryparaiika, in the region of Kalamaki (Greece), a landfill site which is malfunctioning, saturated and does not comply with the conditions and requirements of EU environmental legislation laid down in Articles 13 and 36(1) of Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 on waste and repealing certain Directives, and in Articles 8, 9, 11(1)(a) and 12(1)(b) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), … a), 12 and 14 of Council Directive 1999/31/EC of 26 April 1999 on the landfill of waste, and
–by renewing the landfill permit for the site in question without complying with the procedure referred to in Article 6(3) of Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora,
has failed to fulfil its obligations under those provisions ».
Despite various requests from the Commission, notably on 29 July 2014, 3 June 2016, 23 May 2019, 9 December 2021, 6 January 2022 and 9 January 2023, the Hellenic Republic has not taken all the measures to comply with the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union of 17 July 2024. While the latter has indeed ceased to receive waste, the required rehabilitation measures have still not been taken.
By application lodged on 23 May 2024, the Commission brought an action for failure to fulfil obligations before the Court under Article 260(2) TFEU.
For the Court, the date of the first formal notice must be taken as the starting point for determining whether there has been a failure to fulfil obligations.
For the Court, it is not disputed that, by considering decommissioning and rehabilitating the site, the Greek authorities did not authorize the continued operation of the Zakynthos landfill in accordance with Directive 1999/31. As the Hellenic Republic acknowledged, in particular in its defence, on the reference date for assessing the breach, namely 28 June 2017, the Zakynthos landfill had not been decommissioned and rehabilitated, but had continued to receive waste until the end of 2017.
Consequently, that Member State, by neither authorizing the continued operation of that landfill on the basis of a development plan meeting the requirements of that directive nor definitively closing the landfill in accordance with Article 13 of that directive, continued, as of that reference date, to fail to fulfil its obligations under Article 14 of that directive.
In those circumstances, the Commission’s complaints must be upheld and it must be held that, by failing to take all the measures necessary to comply with the 2014 judgment in Commission v Greece, the Hellenic Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 260(1) TFEU.
For the Court, the fact that the Hellenic Republic would have difficulties in complying fully with the 2014 judgment in Commission v Greece due to technical or other considerations is irrelevant.
According to well-established case-law, a Member State may not rely on provisions, practices or situations in its domestic legal system, including practical difficulties, in particular those due to geographical characteristics, to justify failure to comply with obligations arising from EU law.
For these reasons, the Court hereby declares and orders:
- By failing to take all the measures necessary to comply with the judgment of 17 July 2014, Commission v Greece (C-600/12, EU:C:2014:2086), the Hellenic Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 260(1) TFEU. 2. The Hellenic Republic is ordered to pay the European Commission a penalty payment of EUR 12,500 per day from the date of delivery of this judgment until the date of compliance with the judgment of 17 July 2014, Commission v Greece (C 600/12, EU:C:2014:2086).
- The Hellenic Republic is ordered to pay the European Commission a lump sum of EUR 5,500,000.
- The Hellenic Republic is ordered to pay the costs.
To access the judgment, follow the link: https://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf?text=&docid=305031&pageIndex=0&doclang=fr&mode=req&dir=&occ=first&part=1&cid=2672317