February 12 (SeeNews) - The European Commission (EC) said on Wednesday it is urging Romania to stop illegal logging and comply with EU rules on ship recycling.
Romania needs to properly implement the EU Timber Regulation which prevents timber companies from producing and placing on the EU market products made from illegally harvested logs, the Commission said in its February infringement package.
According to the Commission, in Romania's case, national authorities have been unable to effectively check the operators and apply appropriate sanctions. Also, inconsistencies in the national legislation do not allow Romanian authorities to check large amounts of illegally harvested timber.
The EU's executive body decided to send a letter of formal notice to Romania, giving the country one month to take the necessary measures to address shortcomings. Otherwise, the Commission may decide to send a reasoned opinion to the Romanian authorities.
The Commission also said it Romania must comply with its duty to fully implement EU legislation on ship recycling which aims to ensure that ships sailing under the flag of an EU member state are recycled in a safe and sustainable manner.
In June 2019, The Commission sent a letter of formal notice to Romania in June 2019 , but compliance has still not been achieved. Thus, the Commission has decided to send a reasoned opinion, so Romania now has two months to remedy the situation. Sweden has also received the same warnings. If Romania and Sweden do not act within the next two months, the Commission may refer the case to the EU Court of Justice.
The Commission also decided to send a reasoned opinion to Romania for failing to adopt measures on penalties for breaches of regulation on fluorinated greenhouse gases. To date, the Commission has not received a notification of national measures on penalties from Romania and has therefore moved to the second step in the infringement procedure with a reasoned opinion, following a letter of formal notice sent in July. Romania now has two months to communicate such measures to the Commission.
Under the February infringement package, the Commission also urged Romania, Greece and Malta to adopt their first national air pollution control programmes and to communicate them to the Commission, as required under the directive regarding the reduction of national emissions of certain atmospheric pollutants.
Despite previous reminders, Greece, Malta and Romania have until now failed to meet their obligations. The Commission has therefore decided to issue a letter of formal notice giving the countries two months to reply, adopt and communicate their plans within this deadline. Otherwise, the Commission said it may decide to send a reasoned opinion to the Romanian, Greek and Maltese authorities.