EU warns Cyprus over atmospheric pollutants law
The European Commission on Thursday sent Cyprus a “reasoned opinion” over the country’s failure to transpose into its legal system a directive regarding the reporting of projected emissions of some atmospheric pollutants.
A reasoned opinion is the second in a five-step procedure the commission employs to deal with non-compliance, with member states which do not comply taken as a last resort to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and issued fines.
The commission said the directive “ensures that member states’ reports on projected emissions of certain air pollutants to the commission and the European environment agency are in line with similar reports provided for in the United Nations economic commission for Europe convention on long-range transboundary air pollution”.
The pollutants listed in the directive are sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, non-methane volatile organic compounds, ammonia, and fine particulate matter, with it now required that all 27 European Union member states report the levels of those pollutants in the atmosphere to the commission.
The commission added that compiling reports which adhere to this directive allows the commission to verify whether member states are on track with their emission reduction obligations.
Cyprus had been sent a letter of formal notice, the first step in the commission’s five-step disciplinary procedure, over the matter by January, with the commission saying on Thursday that while the government had “acknowledged the breach and replied that it was addressing it” at the time , the directive has still not been transposed six months later.
As such, the commission said, it has been decided to send Cyprus a reasoned opinion.
It added that Cyprus now has “two months to respond and take the necessary measures”, less the commission refer the case to the ECJ.
Cyprus was also sent a letter of formal notice over its failure to transpose new laws related to value added tax.
EU member states had been required to transpose a new directive on VAT by the end of last year, with the commission saying the directive “allows for a wider use by member states of reduced rates, including the use of zero rates for essential products such as food, pharmaceuticals, and products intended for medical use”.
In addition, Cyprus and France both received letters of formal notice over their failure to “deploy customs electronic systems”.
The commission wrote that both countries had failed “to meet their obligations to deploy the system for temporary storage for air transport and the national import system”.
The idea behind a national import system is that each member state have a digital platform to facilitate the declaration of goods entering the customs union and, as the commission wrote on Thursday, ensures “the effective collection of revenues and the protection of the EU’s financial interests”.
In addition, the commission said, the system provides for “the enforcement of EU level and national prohibitions and restrictions in connection with the import of goods”.
The electronic system for temporary storage, meanwhile, relates to goods imported into the EU, which are, according to EU law, considered to be under “temporary storage” until they are either re-exported or placed under a specific customs procedure.
The commission said system “allows the relevant declarations to be lodged electronically and is one of the crucial steps to ensure the supervision of goods entering the EU”.