The European Commission has decided to refer Greece to the Court of Justice of the European Union for its failure to fully comply with the collection and treatment obligations set out in the Municipal Wastewater Treatment Directive (Directive 91/271/EEC). The Directive aims to protect people’s health and the environment by making it mandatory to collect and treat urban wastewater before it is discharged into the environment. Towns and cities must have the necessary infrastructure in place to collect and treat urban wastewater. Wastewater that is not collected or treated can endanger people’s health and pollute lakes, rivers, soil, coastal waters and groundwater. This is part of the European Green Deal, which aims to effectively protect people’s health, safeguard the natural environment and achieve climate neutrality under the zero pollution ambition.
Information collected by the European Commission found that 153 collection sites in Greece were in widespread violation of the Directive.
Greece still needs to ensure that wastewater collection systems are in place in all 153 urban areas and that, where the use of separate systems or other appropriate systems (such as septic tanks) is justified, they achieve a comparable level of environmental protection.
In 143 of these districts, Greece still does not perform secondary treatment of wastewater before discharging it. Moreover, in some districts, Greece still does not perform more rigorous treatment before discharging wastewater into sensitive areas. To comply with the Directive’s requirements, Greece will need to build new infrastructure in some districts and upgrade existing infrastructure in others.
The European Commission sent a formal notice to Greece in May 2020, followed by a reasoned opinion in December 2021. While some progress has been made, the Greek authorities have yet to fully address the complaints. The European Commission has found that the Greek authorities’ efforts have so far been insufficient, and will refer Greece to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
background
Under the Municipal Wastewater Treatment Directive, Member States must install collection systems in all catchment areas with at least 2,000 inhabitants. Where the installation of collection systems is not justified, in particular because of excessive costs, individual systems or other suitable systems (e.g. septic tanks) can be used instead, provided that they achieve the same level of environmental protection. Member States must also ensure that discharges resulting from municipal wastewater treatment plants serving catchment areas with at least 2,000 inhabitants comply with at least a secondary treatment level (treatment of organic matter in municipal wastewater) before being released into the environment. Where catchments discharge wastewater into sensitive areas, they must ensure that a treatment stricter than secondary treatment is applied.
