In its regular package of infringement decisions, the European Commission pursues legal action against Member States for failing to comply with their obligations under EU law. These decisions, covering various sectors and EU policy areas, aim to ensure the proper application of EU law for the benefit of citizens and businesses.
Reasoned opinions
Waste: Commission urges 7 Member States to fully enact new EU rules on waste streams into national legislation
The Commission is calling on Belgium, Greece, Finland, Croatia, Luxembourg, Malta and Slovakia to bring their national laws in line with modifications included in Directive 2018/849, amending Directives 2000/53/EC on end-of-life vehicles (ELV), 2006/66/EC on batteries and accumulators and waste batteries and accumulators, and 2012/19/EU on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). The End-of-life vehicles Directive aims to prevent waste from vehicles, to increase the reuse, recycling and recovery of materials and to improve the environmental performance of the economic operators involved in the life cycle of vehicles. The Batteries Directive seeks to improve the environmental performance of batteries and accumulators and of the activities of all economic operators involved in their life cycle. The purpose of the WEEE Directive is to contribute to sustainable production and consumption by the prevention of waste electrical and electronic equipment, its re-use, recycling and recovery, and to improve the environmental performance of all operators involved in the life cycle of such waste streams. The European Green Deal stresses the importance of Europe remaining on track to meet its environmental objectives. The Commission sent letters of formal notice to the 7 Member States mentioned above in October 2020. The Commission has now decided to send reasoned opinions to them. The countries in question have two months to reply and take the necessary measures, otherwise the cases may be referred to the Court of Justice.
Waste: Commission urges 13 Member States to fully enact new EU rules on landfilling into national legislation
The Commission is urging Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Estonia, Greece, Finland, France, Croatia, Luxembourg, Latvia, Malta, Romania and Slovakia to bring their national laws in line with modifications included in Directive 2018/850 on the landfill of waste. The Directive introduces restrictions on landfilling of all waste that is suitable for recycling or energy recovery from 2030. It also seeks to limit the share of municipal waste sent to landfill to 10% by 2035, and introduces rules on calculating how municipal waste targets are reached. Furthermore, it requires EU countries to put in place an effective quality control and traceability system for landfilled municipal waste. The European Green Deal stresses the importance of Europe remaining on track to meet its environmental objectives. The Commission sent letters of formal notice to the 13 Member States mentioned above in October 2020. The Commission has now decided to send reasoned opinions to them. The countries in question have two months to reply and take the necessary measures, otherwise the cases may be referred to the Court of Justice.
Waste: Commission urges 17 Member States to fully enact new EU rules on waste management into national legislation
The Commission is urging Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Estonia, Greece, Spain, Finland, France, Croatia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia to bring their national laws in line with modifications included in Directive (EU) 2018/851 amending Directive 2008/98/EC on waste. The Directive sets minimum operating requirements for extended producer-responsibility (EPR) schemes and strengthens rules on waste prevention. It also sets new targets on municipal waste recycling, specifying that by 2025, at least 55% of municipal waste by weight will have to be recycled. This target will rise to 60% by 2030 and 65% by 2035. The European Green Deal stresses the importance of Europe remaining on track to meet its environmental objectives. The Commission sent letters of formal notice to the 17 Member States mentioned above in October 2020. The Commission has now decided to send reasoned opinions to them. The countries in question have two months to reply and take the necessary measures, otherwise the cases may be referred to the Court of Justice.
Waste: Commission urges 13 Member States to fully enact new EU rules on preventing of the packaging waste
The Commission is urging Austria, Estonia, Greece, Spain, Finland, France, Croatia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, Poland and Romania and to bring their national laws in line with modifications included in Directive 2018/852 on packaging and packaging waste. The Directive requires EU countries to take measures to prevent the generation of packaging waste and to minimise the environmental impact of packaging. The European Green Deal stresses the importance of Europe remaining on track to meet its environmental objectives. The Commission sent letters of formal notice to the 13 Member States mentioned above in October 2020. The Commission has now decided to send reasoned opinions to them. The countries in question have two months to reply and take the necessary measures, otherwise the cases may be referred to the Court of Justice.
Nature: Commission calls on MALTA to discontinue practices affecting protected wild birds
The Commission is calling on Malta to correctly apply the Birds Directive (Directive 2009/147/EC), and discontinue its practice to authorise finch trapping. The Birds Directive requires a general system of protection for wild birds and allows derogations on hunting and trapping only subject to strict conditions. These are key requirements to protect biodiversity across the EU. The European Green Deal and the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 both indicate that it is crucial for the EU to halt its biodiversity loss by preserving our natural sites and restoring damaged ecosystems to good ecological status. Malta has recently authorised finch trapping for research purposes, having previously authorised finch trapping for recreational purposes for several years, an action which was found to be non-compliant with the Birds Directive by the Court of Justice. In particular, the Commission considers that the new derogation scheme adopted in October 2020 authorising the trapping of finches for research purposes circumvents the judgment of the Court of Justice, by permitting trapping of finches in similar conditions as before this ruling, even if under a different regime. Following the unsatisfactory reply from the Maltese authorities to the letter of formal notice, the Commission has decided to send a reasoned opinion to Malta. Malta now has one month to remedy the situation, otherwise, the Commission may decide to refer the case to the Court of Justice. A shortened deadline aims to prevent serious and irreversible damage to the environment, in case the Republic of Malta intends to open yet another trapping season.
Letters of formal notice
Legal migration: Commission urges LITHUANIA, MALTA and SLOVENIA to correctly transpose EU rules on long-term residents
Today, the Commission decided to send letters of formal notice to Lithuania and Slovenia, and an additional letter of formal notice to Malta, for failing to correctly transpose the Long-Term Residents Directive (Directive 2003/109/EC). The Directive defines the conditions under which non-EU nationals can obtain long-term resident status and defines their right to equal treatment to support their integration. Under the Directive, Member States grant long-term resident status to non-EU nationals legally and continuously residing within its territory for 5 years immediately prior to their application. Lithuanian legislation only considers residence based on a ‘temporary residence permit' as relevant for granting this status and excludes people with long stay visas. However, any period of legal and continuous residence should count towards the period of 5 years under the Directive, unless such residence does not reflect any intention to settle on a long-term basis in the territory of the Member State concerned. Slovenian legislation concerning access to immovable property, such as real estate, by non-Slovenian citizens relies on a number of conditions which - if unfulfilled - exclude long-term residents. However, the Long-Term Residents Directive does not allow any derogation from equal treatment based on such conditions. Finally, Member States have a certain discretion in establishing integration conditions, however within the limits of the principle of proportionality. Under Maltese legislation, applicants for long-term residency must prove a certain knowledge of the Maltese language, while applicants for Maltese citizenship by naturalisation have the choice between providing evidence of their Maltese or English language skills. The additional language requirement for long-term residents does not comply with the principle of proportionality. This additional letter of formal notice extends the scope of the initial infringement procedure opened on 2 July 2020. Lithuania, Malta and Slovenia now have two months to respond to the arguments put forward by the Commission. In the absence of a satisfactory response, the Commission may decide to send a reasoned opinion in each case.
Additional letter of formal notice and reasoned opinion
Investor citizenship schemes: European Commission urges CYPRUS and MALTA to stop “selling” EU citizenship
Today, the European Commission has decided to take further steps in the infringement procedures against Cyprus and Malta regarding their investor citizenship schemes, also referred to as “golden passport” schemes. The Commission considers that by establishing and operating investor citizenship schemes that offer citizenship in exchange for pre-determined payments and investments, these two Member States fail to fulfil their obligations under the principle of sincere cooperation (Article 4(3) TEU) and the definition of citizenship of the Union as laid down in the Treaties (Article 20 TFEU). While Cyprus and Malta remain responsible to decide who may become Cypriot and Maltese, the Court of Justice has made it clear on multiple occasions that rules on the acquisition of the nationality of a Member State must do so having “due regard to EU law”. The Commission launched these infringement procedures against Cyprus and Malta by sending letters of formal notice in October 2020. While Cyprus has repealed its scheme and stopped receiving new applications on 1 November 2020, it continues processing pending applications. Hence, today the Commission decided to take the next step in the procedure against Cyprus by issuing a reasoned opinion. The Commission considers that the concerns set out in the letter of formal notice were not addressed by Cyprus. The Commission also decided to take further steps against Malta. While the previous investor citizenship scheme is no longer in force, Malta established a new scheme at the end of 2020. Commission has decided today to issue an additional letter of formal notice to expand the concerns set out in the letter of formal notice to a new scheme operated by Malta. Both Member States have now 2 months to take the necessary measures to address the Commission's concerns. In case of Cyprus, if the reply is not satisfactory, the Commission may bring the matter before the Court of Justice. In case of Malta, if the reply is not satisfactory, the Commission may take next step and issue a reasoned opinion in this matter.
Reasoned opinion
Car taxation: Commission urges MALTA to change its legislation on car taxation
The Commission decided today to send a reasoned opinion to Malta for failing to amend its rules on car taxation. The Commission considers that Maltese legislation is not compatible with Article 110 of TFEU prohibiting discrimination against imported products since cars imported from other Member States are taxed more heavily compared to domestic cars. Under the national provisions currently in force, cars first registered in Malta from 1st January 2009 are subject to a generally higher annual circulation tax than those registered before that date, due to a difference in the way the tax is calculated. The Maltese car taxation system does not take into account the date of first registration of the vehicle, where registration took place in another Member State. Consequently, the Maltese car taxation system has a discriminatory effect with respect to motor vehicles coming from other Member States. If Malta does not act within the next two months, the Commission may decide to refer the case to the Court of Justice.
Details
- Publication date
- 9 June 2021