the European Commission decided to refer Greece 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 is collected and treated before discharge into the environment. Towns and cities need to put in place the necessary infrastructure in order 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. It is part of the European Green Deal, which under its zero pollution ambition aims to effectively protect human health, safeguard the natural environment and reach climate neutrality.
In Greece, 153 agglomerations showed widespread failures to comply with the Directive, according to information gathered by the Commission.
In all 153 agglomerations, Greece still needs to ensure that wastewater collection systems are in place and that, where the use of individual or other appropriate systems (for example septic tanks) is justified, 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. In addition, in one agglomeration, Greece is still failing to provide a more stringent treatment before discharging wastewater into sensitive areas. 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.
The Commission sent a letter of formal notice to Greece in May 2020, followed by a reasoned opinion in December 2021. Despite some progress, the Greek authorities have not yet fully addressed the grievances. The Commission considers that efforts by the Greek authorities have, to date, been insufficient and is therefore referring Greece to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
Background
Under the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive, Member States must have in place collecting systems for all agglomerations with at least 2,000 inhabitants. Where the establishment of a collecting system is not justified, notably because it would entail excessive costs, individual or other appropriate systems (such as septic tanks) can be used instead, provided they achieve the same level of environmental protection. Member States must also secure that discharges stemming 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 wastewater into a sensitive area then it must ensure that they are subject to a treatment that is stricter than the secondary one.
