ZAGREB, March 9, 2018 – The European Commission decided on Thursday to refer Croatia to the Court of Justice of the EU for failing to ensure an adequate level of protection of human health and the environment at the “Crno Brdo” site, and for failing to update national legislation to implement common European rules in aviation security.
The illegal industrial waste landfill “Crno Brdo” in Biljane Donje, near the town of Benkovac, is less than 50 metres from houses, the Commission said in a press release.
“The waste should have been managed in accordance with the EU rules on waste… by the end of 2015 at the latest. Even though Croatia committed to address this situation on several occasions, there has been no progress on the ground. For almost four years, the industrial waste deposited at ‘Crno Brdo’ illegal landfill has not been cleared and properly managed, threatening to contaminate groundwater and air,” the Commission said.
“The location is currently used as a depository of a large amount of production residue of processing of ferromanganese and silicomanganese. As the Croatian authorities failed to classify that material as waste in line with Directive, approximately 140,000 tons of this potentially harmful stone aggregate are deposited directly on soil, threatening local inhabitants and the environment. Under EU law, Croatia should have put in place measures for the protection of groundwater and the prevention of the dispersion of harmful particles through the air,” according to the press release. “Since there has been no progress in ensuring proper waste management,” the Commission decided to refer Croatia to the Court of Justice of the EU.
The other proceedings concern Croatia’s failure “to implement some of the common European rules in the field of aviation security… This is a matter of administrative nature that is not linked to security shortcomings.”
“The Regulation requires member states to regularly update their national aviation security legislation. Such legislation defines organisational structures, responsibilities and mechanisms to monitor activities at national airports, vis-à-vis airlines and aviation security related entities. This is to ensure that any security issue is swiftly detected and corrected,” another press release said.
“However, and despite repeated requests from the Commission, Croatia still has not formally updated the relevant legislation. The Commission has therefore decided to refer the matter to the Court of Justice of the EU.”
The Commission also closed proceedings against 18 countries, including Croatia, after they transposed in their legislation the antitrust directive, and welcomed the transposition of the Mortgage Credit Directive in Croatia and another five member states.
