Illegal landfills, air pollution in Madrid and Barcelona, wastewater treatment, the Mar Menor or Doñana. These are some of the environmental files that Spain accumulates in the community archives and that, some of them, have become fines.
One of them was ‘Case C‑559/19’ in 2021 in which the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that Spain should have «taken into account illegal water extractions and extractions for supply when estimating groundwater withdrawals from the Doñana region” before drawing up the Guadalquivir Hydrological Plan 2015-2021. Before it came, specifically in 2018, a penalty of 12 million euros for not complying with the regulations on the treatment of urban wastewater.
Some cases that have already been sentenced have meant ‘pulling’ the ear of the Spanish rulers, but that have not meant that Spain disappears from the leading positions in offenses related to the environment. In fact, Spain is the country with the highest number of active cases at present, followed by Greece with 22 and Poland with 20, according to data from the European Commission.
“This does not mean that Spain does not care about the environment,” clarifies Ana Barreira, president of the International Institute of Law and the Environment (IIDMA). “It may be because a community directive has not been transposed or that it has simply not been communicated that it has been done,” she adds.
In fact, according to data from Brussels, almost 90% of the active procedures in Spain in 2023 are related to the misapplication of community regulations. “You have to see the open cases one by one and see who has jurisdiction in each case,” explains the president of the IIDMA.
[Código HTML]
Historically, water and nature protection have been the most numerous cases in Spain from the late 1990s to the present day.
In total, 271 cases for various reasons in the last three decades. An accumulation that, although it is true, has been reduced over the years, has led Spain in most years to lead the cases, although on rare occasions it entails a sanction.
From procedure to sanction
More than two hundred active cases where some accumulate years of ‘open file’, since the resolution process of these infractions is long and can cover a few months or several years. One of the most notorious examples is Doñana, which was under community scrutiny from 2014 until its sanction in 2021.
This investigation, related to the illegal extraction of water and, ultimately, the protection of the wetlands of the national park, was complex and took almost a decade to resolve after going through several community instances. However, it is a common procedure depending on the type and subject of the offence.
Firstly, the European Commission identifies potential breaches of EU law on the basis of its own investigations or following complaints from the public.
Community citizens can inform Brussels through three procedures: an “informal notification” with letters or notifying an official, establishing “a formal complaint” or, finally, “formulating a petition to the European Parliament”.
Next, the community authorities request by letter information on the complaint that must be answered by the Member State in less than two months. If the Commission concludes that the State does not comply with its obligations under Union law, it can send a reasoned opinion, that is, a formal request to comply with said legislation. In addition, Brussels will oblige the executive of the country to report on the measures adopted.
Finally, if the Member State maintains non-compliance, the Commission may choose to refer the matter to the Court of Justice. In the event that it accepts it, the court can impose economic sanctions on the Member State. “The sanction falls on the country, but on many occasions the culprits are the regional or local administrations,” Barreira points out.
The sentences to Spain
The last condemnation of Spain by the Court of Justice of the European Union came last December. In 2019, Brussels decided to denounce the Kingdom of Spain for failing to comply with the European air quality directive in Madrid, Barcelona, the Vallès Oriental and Occidental and Baix-Llobregat, estimating that the annual limit level was “systematically and continuously” exceeded. of nitrogen (NO2) of the law in force since 2008 and legally binding since 2010. The ruling was clear: “Spain did not ensure air quality.”
However, it did not entail an economic sanction as it did in 2018 with urban wastewater. In this case, the CJEU sanctioned Spain for taking time to adapt the systems for the purification of urban wastewater in different municipalities of the country to European regulations.
“All this does not mean that we are bad students, but that there are many interests and it is not always fulfilled on time,” warns the president of the IIDMA. The majority of Spanish cases are resolved after the requirements of the Commission. “Few reach economic sanctions,” she warns.
#Spain #European #leader #active #environmental #offenses