EC Continues Infringement On Romania Over Waste Management Legislation

The country was supposed to align its waste management laws to EU legislation in 2010.

Romania has two months to comply or it will be referred to the EU Court of Justice, where the European Commission would ask for immediate financial penalties, the EC said in a press release Thursday.

EU member states had to bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with the waste framework directive, which introduces waste management principles such as the "polluter pays principle" and lays down a binding hierarchy for managing waste, by December 12 2010. As Romania and Belgium did not notify the Commission of all the implementing measures in time, a letter of formal notice was sent.

Romania informed the Commission that it would comply by April 2011.

Under a new policy, when member states fail to transpose EU legislation into national law within the required deadline, the Commission may ask the Court for financial sanctions to be imposed at the first referral to court, the EC said in its release.

Romanian Environment Minister Laszlo Borbely said Wednesday said the country will likely adopt a law on waste management within a month, in which case infringement procedures started by the EU would be halted. He added the law is currently undergoing parliamentary procedures within the Chamber of Deputies.

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