The European Commission is bringing Italy before the European Court of Justice for failing to complete the process of drawing up emergency plans in case of major accidents for installations where hazardous substances are present.

Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said: “The Italian authorities must implement contingency plans to protect its citizens and the environment from the consequences of major industrial accidents. It is absolutely vital that installations dealing with hazardous materials have emergency plans in the event of an accident. Every step must be taken to prevent the consequences of such accidents.”

The Commission is taking Italy to the European Court of Justice for failure to comply with EU legislation on controlling the hazardous consequences of major accidents involving dangerous substances. Under the directive, often referred to as the Seveso II Directive, Member States are obliged to set up emergency plans for areas surrounding industrial installations that store or handle large quantities of dangerous substances.

The directive requires authorities in Member States to draw up emergency plans for these installations by 3 February 2002. In October 2007 the Commission sent Italy a final warning letter highlighting that more than 20 percent of installations storing or handling dangerous substances did not have the necessary emergency plans. In its two December 2007 responses Italy acknowledged this shortcoming and stated its commitment to prepare the remaining emergency plans.

However Italy has not complied with the directive to date and little suggests that the current shortcomings will be overcome soon. The Commission believes this state of affairs to be unacceptable and is thus taking Italy before the European Court of Justice.

•Date: 8th April 2008• Region: W.Europe •Type: Article •Topic: BC manufacturing
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