Today, the European Commission decided to refer Slovakia to the Court of Justice of the European Union for failing to fully comply with the collection and treatment obligations set in the urban waste water treatment directive ( Directive 91/271/EEC ). The Directive aims to protect people's health and the environment by requiring that urban waste water be collected and treated before discharge into the environment. Towns and cities (agglomerations) need to put in place the necessary infrastructure to collect and treat their urban waste water. Uncollected or untreated waste water can put human health at risk and pollute lakes, rivers, soil and coastal and groundwater.
The case concerns 25 agglomerations in Slovakia that do not comply with the urban waste water treatment directive. For 17 of those agglomerations, Slovakia has not provided secondary treatment before discharging the waste waters. In 9 agglomerations, urban wastewater entering collecting systems is not subject to additional biological treatment with nitrogen and/or phosphorus removal. One agglomeration is concerned by the two breaches.
The Commission sent a letter of formal notice to Slovakia in February 2017, followed by a reasoned opinion in November 2019. Despite some progress, the Slovak authorities have not yet fully addressed the grievances. The Commission considers that efforts by the Slovak authorities have, to date, been insufficient and is therefore referring Slovakia to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
Background
Under the urban waste water treatment directive, Member States must ensure that discharges from urban waste water treatment plants serving agglomerations with at least 2,000 inhabitants comply at least with the secondary treatment level (consisting in the treatment of organic matter in urban waste water), before being released in the environment. If an agglomeration discharges its waste water into a sensitive area then it must ensure that they are subject to a treatment that is stricter than the secondary one. The Accession Treaty included two intermediate deadlines (31 December 2010 and 31 December 2012). The final deadline for Slovakia to achieve compliance with the Waste Water Treatment Directive according to the Accession Treaty expired on 31 December 2015.
There are two ongoing infringement procedures against Slovakia regarding the improper application of the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive. The second case (INFR(2021)2147), which was initiated in 2021, covers the compliance after the expiration of the final 31 December 2015 deadline. The present Court referral is related to the obligations applicable at the intermediate deadlines of 31 December 2010 and 31 December 2012 set in the Accession Treaty. There is no overlapping between the cases. Slovakia has brought several agglomerations into compliance since the launching of these infringement cases, using also EU co-financing. While compliance with the directive is the primary responsibility of national authorities, Slovakia has benefitted from substantial EU funding for urban wastewater treatment through cohesion policy projects.
