WRITTEN QUESTION P-1337/03 by Antonios Trakatellis (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Protecting the environment from the discharge of sludge into landfill sites and the implementation of integrated waste management in Greece.
Date: 2003-04-03
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Central Greece, EU control, complaint to the Commission, environmental protection, infringement of EU law, infringement procedure (EU), national implementing measure, sewage sludge, unauthorised dumping, waste management

C 280 E/132

Official Journal of the European Union

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21.11.2003

(2003/C 280 E/151)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1337/03

by Antonios Trakatellis (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(3 April 2003)

Subject: Protecting the environment from the discharge of sludge into landfill sites and the implementation

of integrated waste management in Greece

Thousands of tons of sludge from the sewage treatment plant in Psittalia are being deposited in the landfill
in Ano Liosion in Attica, and, despite the fact that it is required by Community environmental
law,
is not practised. This situation is creating several problems in the
integrated waste management
functioning of the landfill
landslips and subsidence), and contravenes Community law by
endangering public health while at the same time damaging the environment.

(continual

1. What measures will the Commission take, as guardian of the treaties and Community law on the
protection of human health and the environment in Greece, and to ensure that Community rules in the
waste sector are complied with?

2.
How will the Commission ensure that Greece complies in the area of integrated waste management,
which requires the treatment of sludge (drying of sludge), its use as fuel for energy production and the
sustainable operation of sewage treatment plants?

3.
Is sludge subject to preliminary treatment so as not to exceed permissible levels of concentrated
heavy metals or other dangerous substances under Community legislation, and what is the extent of
compliance with the provisions of Directive 75/442/EEC (1) on waste, as amended by Directive 91/156/
EEC (2), and those of Directive 1999/31/EC (3) on the landfill of waste?

(1) OJ L 194, 25.7.1975, p. 39.
(2) OJ L 78, 26.3.1991, p. 32.
(3) OJ L 182, 16.7.1999, p. 1.

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(14 May 2003)

Waste management operations must meet the requirements of Council Directive 75/442/EEC of 15 July
1975 on waste, as amended by Council Directive 91/156/EEC of 18 March 1991, and of Council Directive
1999/31/EC of 26 April 1999 on the landfill of waste.

The Commission had initiated infringement proceedings against Greece for failure to transpose
1.
the Greek authorities have adopted and notified to the
Directive 1999/31/EC. However, now that
Commission measures incorporating the Directive into national
law (joint ministerial decision 29407/
3508/10.12.2002), Greece is deemed to have met this requirement. The notified measures are being
examined to check conformity with the provisions of Directive 1999/31/EC.

Regarding Directive 75/442/EC, as the Greek authorities have admitted that there are around 1 400 illegal
or unregulated landfills in the country and that 60 % of household waste is disposed of in sites which do
not meet
the Commission has initiated infringement
proceedings against Greece. A reasoned opinion was addressed to Greece in December 2002. If Greece
does not comply with the reasoned opinion, the Commission may decide to bring the matter before the
Court of Justice.

the requirements of Community legislation,

Regarding the treatment of sewage sludge from the waste water treatment plant in Psittalia, the
2. and 3.
Commission does not believe the Greek authorities have taken all necessary measures to ensure that the
sludge is reused on the site where it is produced in order to ensure recovery or disposal without
endangering human health or harming the environment. On the contrary, the sludge is taken to the
landfill in Ano Liosia which is already almost full to capacity. In October 2002 the Commission sent
Greece a letter of formal notice, thereby initiating infringement proceedings as provided for in Article 226

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Official Journal of the European Union

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of the EC Treaty. The Greek authorities replied, giving their comments. The reply is now being examined.
If the Commission finds that Greece has failed to meet the requirements of Community legislation, it will
deliver a reasoned opinion on the matter.

It should be noted that the Commission recently received a complaint on the malfunctioning of the landfill
in Ano Liosia, also linked to the discharge of sewage sludge from Psittalia on this site. The Commission
will not hesitate to take all necessary measures to ensure that Community law is observed.

(2003/C 280 E/152)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1360/03

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(10 April 2003)

Subject: Shipments of uranium and enrichment technologies by the Urenco company to Iran and other

states seeking to develop nuclear weapons

1.
Is the Commission aware that the Uranium Enrichment Company (Urenco), which is established in
Capenhurst (UK), Gronau (D) and Almelo (NL), and which was set up in 1970 on the basis of a treaty by
the governments of the United Kingdom, the Federal Republic of Germany and the Netherlands for the
commercial development of ultracentrifuge technology, commands a 12 to 15 % share of the world market
in enriched uranium?

Is the Commission also aware that in the 1970s Urenco attracted controversy, not least for having
2.
supplied enriched uranium to the then Brazilian dictatorship, interested as it was in developing nuclear
weapons, by going against the wishes of the United Nations in using uranium originating in the Rössing
mine in what was then South-African occupied Namibia, and by unintentionally playing into the hands of
the Pakistani government by creating the possibility for it to develop its own atomic bomb on the strength
of industrial espionage by Abdul Qadeer Kahn, an employee of the Dutch FDO company working in
cooperation with Urenco?

Can the Commission confirm that Urenco centrifuge technology and centrifuge rotors were found

3.
during inspections in Iraqi installations early in 1996, possibly shipped via Pakistan or Brazil?

4.
Is Urenco now supplying Iran with centrifuge technology and other apparatus suitable for use in
uranium enrichment, as brought to public attention by the government of the Russian Federation? Have
such shipments always been registered by the IAEA in Vienna?

Does the Commission share the view of US Secretary of State Colin Powell to the effect that Iran had

5.
a more aggressive nuclear programme than the International Atomic Energy Agency had thought?

6. What action will the Commission take to prevent Urenco from wittingly or unwittingly contributing
to the further proliferation of the means of producing nuclear weapons to states with non-democratic
regimes?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(6 June 2003)

The figures suggested by the Honourable Member concerning the market share of Urenco agree with

1.
the information available to the Commission.

The Commission does not have further information on the issues raised by the Honourable Member

2.
outside the public information released by the media.

The Commission has not participated in any inspection in Iraq; the public information released by

3.
the media is known to the Commission.