CELEX: C2002/323/39
Language: en
Date: 2002-12-21 00:00:00
Title: Case C-393/02: Action brought on 8 November 2002 by the Commission of the European Communities against the Portuguese Republic

21.12.2002             EN                    Official Journal of the European Communities                                       C 323/27
Action brought on 8 November 2002 by the Commission                     The applicant claims that the Court should :
of the European Communities against the Portuguese
                             Republic
                                                                        1.    Declare that, by failing to adopt and bring into force
                         (Case C-393/02)                                      within the prescribed period the laws, regulations and
                                                                              administrative provisions necessary to comply with
                         (2002/C 323/39)                                      Articles 4, 9 and 13 of Council Directive 75/442/EEC (1)
                                                                              of 15 July 1975 on waste, as amended by Council
                                                                              Directive 91/156/EEC of 18 March 1991 ( 2), the Kingdom
                                                                              of Spain has failed to fulfil its obligations under that
An action against the Portuguese Republic was brought                         directive;
before the Court of Justice of the European Communities on
8 November 2002 by the Commission of the European
Communities, represented by C. Tufvesson and M. França,                 2.    Order the Kingdom of Spain to pay the costs.
acting as Agents.
The applicant claims that the Court should :
—     Declare that, by failing to adopt and bring into force
      within the prescribed period the laws, regulations and
      administrative provisions necessary to comply with                Pleas in law and main arguments
      Directive 1999/42/EC of the European Parliament and of
      the Council of 7 June 1999 establishing a mechanism
      for the recognition of qualifications in respect of the
      professional activities covered by the Directives on liberal-     —     Infringement of Article 9 of Directive 75/442/EEC:
      isation and transitional measures and supplementing the                 Although the Spanish authorities in their reply to the
      general systems for the recognition of qualifications (1),              formal notice and the reasoned opinion respectively
      the Portuguese Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations            claimed that the disposal site at La Bañeza had been
      under that directive; and                                               authorised in 1979 to 1980 and that it complied with
                                                                              the requisite conditions, they have not forwarded any
—     Order the Portuguese Republic to pay the costs.                         copies of such authorisation. Accordingly, the Com-
                                                                              mission takes the view that, in the absence of any such
                                                                              information, there was no authorisation or, if it exists,
                                                                              that it cannot be in conformity with the requirements of
Pleas in law and main arguments                                               Article 9 of Directive 75/442/EEC.
The period prescribed for transposing the directive expired on                Moreover, the obligation to obtain authorisation is dis-
31 July 2001.                                                                 charged only when the waste disposal site is finally closed
                                                                              or sealed, but when the period prescribed by the reasoned
                                                                              opinion expired the disposal site at La Bañeza was
( 1) OJ 1999 L 201, p. 77.                                                    still open pending the construction of the Centro de
                                                                              Tratamiento de Residuos (waste disposal processing cen-
                                                                              tre) at San Román de la Vega.
                                                                        —     Infringement of Article 4 of Directive 75/442/EEC:
                                                                              Although the Spanish authorities claim to have carried
Action brought on 11 November 2002 by the Com-                                out a range of work to ‘improve’ the deficient conditions
mission of the European Communities against the                               at the waste disposal site in question, it continues to
                        Kingdom of Spain                                      operate and it is still in its deficient state, entailing a
                                                                              steady deterioration in the environment and causing
                         (Case C-398/02)                                      serious problems for the local population.
                         (2002/C 323/40)
                                                                        —     Infringement of Article 13 of Directive 75/442/EEC:
                                                                              Although, according to Article 14 of Directive 1999/31/
                                                                              EC ( 3), Annex II to that directive is not immediately
An action against the Kingdom of Spain was brought before                     applicable to existing waste disposal sites, its provisions
the Court of Justice of the European Communities on 11 No-                    make clear the type of regular inspections to which
vember 2002 by the Commission of the European Communi-                        Article 13 of Directive 75/442/EEC refers. The Spanish
ties, represented by G. Valero Jordana and M. Konstantinidis,                 authorities have not responded to the request for detailed
acting as Agents, with an address for service in Luxembourg.                  information on the inspections carried out nor have they