Press and Information Division

PRESS RELEASE NO 48/00 4 JULY 2000

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT OF JUSTICE IN CASE C-387/97

COMMISSION V GREECE

THE COURT OF JUSTICE ORDERS GREECE TO PAY A PENALTY PAYMENT OF 20 000 EUROS PER DAY

For the first time, the Court of Justice imposes a penalty on a Member State for failure to comply with one of its previous judgments.

In accordance with the Maastricht Treaty, the Court develops new case-law encouraging the Member States to comply immediately with Community law.

In 1987 the Commission received a complaint drawing its attention to uncontrolled waste disposal in the river Kouroupitos, 200 metres from the sea, by several municipalities in the prefecture of Chania (Crete). The waste came from military bases, hospitals and industry in the area.

In 1992 the Court of Justice held in a first judgment that Greece had failed to take the necessary measures for toxic and dangerous waste to be disposed of in the area of Chania while ensuring that human health and the environment were protected, as required by two Community directives of 1975 and 1978 which Greece should have applied from 1981.

Since the Commission was not notified of any measures to comply with that judgment, in 1993 it reminded the Greek authorities of their obligations and at the end of 1995 it decided to initiate a fresh procedure. This possibility was introduced by the Treaty on European Union (the Maastricht Treaty) and may culminate in an order requiring the Member State concerned to pay a periodic penalty payment or a lump sum.

In 1997 the Commission thus applied to the Court of Justice for an order requiring Greece to pay 24 600 Euros per day of delay from delivery of the new judgment.

In its judgment, the Court established in turn whether each of the obligations found not to have been fulfilled in the first judgment had since been complied with.

As regards the obligation to dispose of waste without causing risk to humans and harm to the environment, the Court found that waste is still thrown in an uncontrolled manner into the Kouroupitos ravine. Opposition from the local population to the location of the two facilities intended to deal with the waste is, for the Court, an internal matter which cannot justify the failure to comply with Community obligations.

The Court stated, on the other hand, that it had not been proved that toxic and dangerous waste are still disposed of in such a way as to endanger human health and harm the environment.

Finally, IN RELATION TO THE plans for the disposal of waste and of toxic and dangerous waste, the Court found that Greece had adopted only ad hoc measures and fragmentary legislation which in no way amounted to the drawing up of a comprehensive programme.

The Court held that, in the present case, a periodic penalty payment was the most appropriate means of ensuring that Community law was applied uniformly and effectively and of inducing Greece to comply with its obligations.

The Court then fixed the amount of the fine. The suggestion made by the Commission in its application was a useful point of reference for the Court, even though the Court did not consider itself bound by it.

The basic criteria to be considered are, in principle, the duration of the infringement, its degree of seriousness and the ability of the Member State concerned to pay. In applying those criteria, the Court has regard, in particular, to the effects of the failure to comply on private and public interests and to the urgency of getting the Member State concerned to fulfil its obligations.

In view of the serious - indeed particularly serious - nature of the breaches of obligations, and of the duration of the infringement which was held to be considerable, the Court ordered Greece to pay, into the account "EC own resources", a penalty payment of 20 000 Euros for each day of delay in complying with the 1992 judgment, from today, 4 July 2000.

NB: Two other cases of this kind are currently pending before the Court of Justice - one against France concerning nightwork by women (C-224/99) and another against Greece concerning recognition of diplomas (Case C-197/98).