Case C-305/18: Judgment of the Court (Sixth Chamber) of 8 May 2019 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Tribunale amministrativo regionale per il Lazio — Italy) — Verdi Ambiente e Società (VAS) — Aps Onlus, Movimento Legge Rifiuti Zero per l’Economia Circolare Aps v Presidenza dei Consiglio dei Ministri and Others (Reference for a preliminary ruling — Environment — Directive 2008/98/EC — Disposal or recovery of waste — Establishment of an integrated waste management system guaranteeing national self-sufficiency — Construction of incineration facilities or increase in capacity of existing facilities — Classification of incineration facilities as ‘strategic infrastructure and installations of major national importance’ — Compliance with the ‘waste hierarchy’ principle — Directive 2001/42/EC — Need to carry out an ‘environmental assessment’)
Date: 2019-05-08
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: dumping of waste, environmental impact, environmental protection, prevention of pollution, waste incineration, waste recycling








C_2019230EN.01001701.xml










8.7.2019   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 230/17






Judgment of the Court (Sixth Chamber) of 8 May 2019 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Tribunale amministrativo regionale per il Lazio — Italy) — Verdi Ambiente e Società (VAS) — Aps Onlus, Movimento Legge Rifiuti Zero per l’Economia Circolare Aps v Presidenza dei Consiglio dei Ministri and Others
(Case C-305/18) (1)

(Reference for a preliminary ruling - Environment - Directive 2008/98/EC - Disposal or recovery of waste - Establishment of an integrated waste management system guaranteeing national self-sufficiency - Construction of incineration facilities or increase in capacity of existing facilities - Classification of incineration facilities as ‘strategic infrastructure and installations of major national importance’ - Compliance with the ‘waste hierarchy’ principle - Directive 2001/42/EC - Need to carry out an ‘environmental assessment’)
(2019/C 230/20)
Language of the case: Italian

Referring court

Tribunale amministrativo regionale per il Lazio

Parties to the main proceedings


Applicants: Verdi Ambiente e Società (VAS) — Aps Onlus, Movimento Legge Rifiuti Zero per l’Economia Circolare Aps

Defendants: Presidenza dei Consiglio dei Ministri, Ministero dell’Ambiente e della Tutela del Territorio e del Mare, Regione Lazio, Regione Toscana, Regione Lombardia

Interveners: Associazione Mamme per la Salute e l’Ambiente Onlus, Comitato Donne 29 Agosto

Operative part of the judgment







1.


The ‘waste hierarchy’ principle, as expressed in Article 4 of Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 on waste and repealing certain Directives, read in the light of Article 13 thereof, must be interpreted as not precluding national legislation, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, which classifies waste incineration facilities as ‘strategic infrastructure and installations of major national importance’, as long as that legislation is compatible with the other provisions of that directive which lay down more specific obligations.










2.


Article 2(a), Article 3(1), and Article 3(2)(a) of Directive 2001/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 June 2001 on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment, must be interpreted as meaning that national legislation, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, comprising basic legislation and implementing legislation, which revises upwards the capacity of existing waste incineration facilities and which provides for the construction of new installations of that kind, comes under the notion of ‘plans and programmes’, within the meaning of that directive, where it is likely to have significant environmental effects and must, consequently, be subject to a prior environmental assessment.






(1)  OJ C 268, 30.7.2018.