Case C-361/05: Action brought on  26 September 2005  by the Commission of the European Communities against the Kingdom of Spain
Date: 2005-11-26
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: European Commission, Spain, action for failure to fulfil an obligation, environmental protection, storage of waste, waste management

C 296/16

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

26.11.2005

Action brought on 23 September 2005 by the Commission
of the European Communities against the Kingdom of
Spain

nities, represented by I. Martínez del Peral and M. Konstanti-
nidis, acting as Agents, with an address for service in Luxem-
bourg.

(Case C-358/05)

(2005/C 296/29)

(Language of the case: Spanish)

Justice of

An action against the Kingdom of Spain was brought before
the Court of
the European Communities on 23
September 2005 by the Commission of the European Commu-
nities, represented by B. Schima and S. Pardo Qunitillán, acting
as Agents, with an address for service in Luxembourg.

The applicant claims that the Court of Justice should:

— declare that, by not having adopted all the laws, regulations
and administrative provisions needed to comply with Direc-
tive 2003/54/EC (1) of the European Parliament and of the
Council of 26 June 2003 concerning common rules for the
internal market
in electricity and repealing Directive
96/92/EC or, in any event, by having failed to give notice
of such provisions to the Commission, the Kingdom of
Spain has failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 30 of
that directive;

— order the Kingdom of Spain to pay the costs.

The Commission claims that the Court should:

1. declare that

— by failing to fulfil its obligations under Articles 4, 9 and
13 of Council Directive 75/442/EEC (1), as amended by
Council Directive 91/156/EEC (2), and Article 14 of
Council Directive 99/31/EC (3), in that it has not taken
the measures necessary to ensure that the landfill sites at
Níjar and Hoyo de Miguel comply with the obligations
arising from those directives;

— by also failing to fulfil its obligations under Articles 4, 9
and 13 of Directive 75/442/EEC, as amended by Direc-
tive 91/156/EEC, and Article 14 of Directive 99/31/EC,
in that it has not taken the measures necessary to ensure
that the landfill site at Cueva del Mojón complies with
the obligations arising from those directives, not having
received from the Spanish authorities information which
contradicts the compla int received in respect of the
landfill site at Cueva del Mojón, situated in La Mojonera,

the Kingdom of Spain has failed to fulfil
under the provisions cited in the previous paragraph;

its obligations

Pleas in law and main arguments

2. order the Kingdom of Spain to pay the costs.

The period within which the directive should have been trans-
posed into national law expired on 1 July 2004.

Pleas in law and main arguments

(1) OJ L 176, 15.7.2002, p. 37.

The persistence of the problem with those landfill sites has led
to significant degradation of the environment over a prolonged
period of time, and without any intervention by the competent
authorities, in spite of requests by the Commission.

The waste in the illegal landfill sites releases into the soil, air
and water chemical substances which endanger human health,
contaminates surface and ground waters and the atmosphere,
as well as plants and animals. Moreover, the illegal incineration
and the fires which ignite spontaneously because of the inflam-
mable nature of the waste in the unsupervised landfill sites give
rise to many fires with disastrous consequences for the environ-
ment.

(1) of 15 July 1975 on waste, OJ L 194 of 25.7.75, p. 39.
(2) of 18 March 1991 OJ L 78 of 26.3.1991, p. 32.
(3) of 26 April 1999, on the landfill of waste, OJ l 182 of 16.7.1999,

p. 1.

Action brought on 26 September 2005 by the Commission
of the European Communities against the Kingdom of
Spain

(Case C-361/05)

(2005/C 296/30)

(Language of the case: Spanish)

An action against the Kingdom of Spain was brought before
the Court of
the European Communities on 26
September 2005 by the Commission of the European Commu-

Justice of