EU warns Malta over environment laws

The European Commission yesterday launched two legal cases against Malta over the island's failure to comply with environmental legislation.

In the first case, the Commission asked Malta to transpose into national law as soon as possible an EU directive tackling the environmental problems caused by the growing amount of electronic and electrical waste.

The Commission said Malta should have adopted this legislation by August of last year and warned that if it fails to comply within the next few months, the Commission could bring up the matter before the European Court of Justice.

The directive in question aims to ensure that "e-waste", which often contains hazardous materials, is not simply thrown away but is collected, recycled and reused, with the remaining waste being properly treated.

Malta is being accused of not transposing the directive on waste electrical and electronic equipment, known as the WEEE directive, which requires member states to ensure the establishment of systems for the collection of e-waste by August.

When the collection systems are in place, consumers will be able to take these products back to shops and collection points for free.

The directive also sets collection, re-use and recycling targets and outlines the financial obligations of producers.

On the other hand, the commission specified that Malta had already adopted another directive connected to this subject, regarding a ban on the use of certain hazardous substances in electric equipment from July 1, 2006, in order to facilitate recycling and to reduce emissions when the remaining e-waste is landfilled or incinerated.

The Commission yesterday also announced that it has given Malta a final written warning for failing to incorporate into national law an EU law aimed at assessing the environmental impact of a wide range of plans and programmes.

These include, for example, plans on land use, road construction and waste management.

The Commission said that national laws should have been in place by July 21.

The EU law in question, known as the Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive, seeks to ensure that national decision-makers examine the environmental effects of plans and programmes before approving them.

The directive covers land-use as well as sectoral plans and programmes such as those related to transport.

Malta has been given two months by the Commission to justify or rectify its position.