Greece in Court for failing to adequately collect and treat urban wastewater

Greece still needs to install wastewater collection systems in 153 agglomerations. The use of individual systems, like septic tanks, is only permitted when those systems achieve the same level of environmental protection. For 143 of those agglomerations, Greece is still failing to provide a secondary treatment before discharging the wastewater And in one agglomeration, Greece is still failing to provide a more stringent treatment before discharging wastewater into sensitive areas.

Therefore the European Commission decided on the 25^th of July to refer Greece to the Court of Justice of the European Union for failing to fully comply with the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (UWWTD). To comply with the requirements of the Directive, Greece will have to build new infrastructure in several agglomerations and will need to upgrade the existing infrastructure in others.

Insufficient efforts

The European Commission (EC) started an infringement procedure to Greece in May 2020. This was followed by a reasoned opinion in December 2021. Despite some progress, the Greek authorities have not yet fully addressed the grievances. The EC states in a press release that efforts by the Greek authorities have, to date, been insufficient and therefore Greece has to go to the Court of Justice of the European Union.

Fines are already paid for other cases

This referral to the Court of Justice is the fourth infringement case concerning improper application of the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive in Greece. While the third case was closed once Greece ensured that the waste ater of the five concerned agglomerations were adequately collected and treated, for the other two cases, the Court of Justice of the EU has imposed fines on Greece for failing to comply with similar requirements for other agglomerations. Greece is still paying those fines.

Compliance with the UWWTD

There is no overlap between these four cases, each one addressing different breaches of the obligations set out by the Directive. Together, these four procedures cover more than 200 agglomerations. Greece has brought approximately 150 agglomerations into compliance since the launching of these infringement cases, using also EU co-financing.