EC Taking Slovakia to Court for Inadequate Treatment of Municipal Waste Water

Brussels, December 16 (TASR-correspondent) - The European Commission (EC) on Monday presented its December package of infringement decisions and announced what legal action it is taking against member states that have breached common legislation. Slovakia found itself with only one case in the December package. In the field of the environment the EC Commission is taking Slovakia to the EU Court of Justice for insufficient treatment of municipal waste water. According to the European Commission, Slovakia isn't fully complying with its obligations regarding the collection and treatment of waste water as laid down in the 1991 Directive, which requires that municipal waste water should be collected and treated before being discharged into the environment. The court case concerns 25 locations in Slovakia that don't comply with the directive - 16 fail to provide secondary treatment before discharging waste water, while eight don't subject urban wastewater to additional biological treatment involving the removal of nitrogen and phosphorus. One location fails to meet both requirements. am/df