MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on the refuse crisis in Campania
26.1.2011
pursuant to Rule 115(5) of the Rules of Procedure
Mara Bizzotto, Lorenzo Fontana, Mario Borghezio, Claudio Morganti, Rolandas Paksas, Jaroslav Paška, Fiorello Provera, Oreste Rossi, Matteo Salvini, Giancarlo Scottà, Francesco Enrico Speroni on behalf of the EFD Group
B7‑0083/2011
European Parliament resolution on the refuse crisis in Campania
The European Parliament,
– having regard to the Oral Questions of 16 November 2010 to the Commission concerning the refuse crisis in Campania (O-0188/2010 – B7-0667/2010), of 30 November 2010 to the Commission concerning the refuse crisis in Campania (O-0197/2010 – B7-0801/2010), of 7 December 2010 to the Commission concerning the refuse crisis in Campania (O-0208/2010 – B7-0805/2010), and of 7 December 2010 to the Commission concerning the waste disposal crisis in Naples and the Campania Region and use of EU funding (O-0209/2010 – B7-0806/2010),
– having regard to the debate held in plenary on January 2011 in Strasbourg (Tuesday, 18 January) on the refuse crisis in Campania,
– having regard to the judgment given by the Court of Justice of the European Communities (Fourth Chamber) on 4 March 2010 - Commission v the Italian Republic (Case C-297/08),
– having regard to Directive 1999/31/EC on the landfill of waste and Directive 2006/12/EC on waste,
– having regard to the statement of 23 October 2010 by Janez Potočnik, Commissioner for the Environment, on the refuse situation in Campania,
– having regard to Rules 115(5) and 110(2) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas under Italian law responsibility for managing the waste cycle rests exclusively with local government (regions, provinces and communes),
B. whereas the inadequacy and malfunctioning of waste management infrastructure in Campania (particularly energy-producing incinerators), due to the inefficiency of the local authorities, are one of the main causes of the crisis,
C. whereas the various waste management plans drawn up over the years by the competent authorities have not been implemented, leading to the Court of Justice’s adverse judgment of 4 March 2010 (in Case C-297/08),
D. whereas this crisis is due purely to decades of local maladministration and infiltration by organised crime into the entire waste cycle and into the public administration,
E. whereas, since 1994, some €500 m has been allocated to the Campania Region for waste disposal projects, half of it cofinanced by the ERDF,
F. whereas, because of irregularities which occurred in the use of Community funding for waste disposal programmes during the period 2002-2006, the Commission decided not to authorise ERDF cofinancing of waste disposal projects from as long ago as 1 January 2005,
G. whereas, after the initiation of the infringement proceedings in 2007, the Commission decided that ERDF cofinancing for the period 2007-2014 (50% of €270 m) should be disbursed only on condition that a waste plan was implemented in Campania which accorded with Community law,
H. whereas, likewise in Italy, various regional models of waste management exist which are very advanced and comply perfectly with Community law, which again reflects badly on the purely local nature of the crisis in Campania,
I. whereas many people in Campania have behaved irresponsibly in recent years, particularly at times of crisis in waste collection, examples including: setting light to piles of rubbish and waste bins; sabotaging collection vehicles; strikes and unauthorised staff absences in businesses responsible for waste collection and disposal; unauthorised road blocks; picketing of landfills; assaults on refuse collectors and on the forces of law and order responsible for protecting them,
J. whereas the need to dispose of 6 m tonnes of bales of refuse-derived fuel currently stored in Campania is no less urgent than that to draw up and implement a new waste management plan, as these bales of RDF are among the main risk factors for health and the environment,
K. whereas similar crises which have occurred in the past in other regions of Italy have been resolved within reasonable periods and with the local authorities and citizens that were involved shouldering their responsibilities,
1. Considers that the solution to the refuse crisis will not be definitive until the local authorities in Campania which are responsible for managing the waste cycle demonstrate genuine political will, no longer simply relying on extraordinary measures adopted by the national and Community authorities;
2. Hopes that the new waste plan which the Campania Region recently presented to the Commission complies with the legal obligations referred to in the judgment of the Court of Justice in Case C-297/08 and will prove to accord with Community law (particularly Directives 2006/12/EC and 1999/31/EC, both as subsequently amended and supplemented), and calls on the Commission to consider the matter carefully;
3. Calls on the Campania Region to implement this new waste plan promptly and within a definite and verifiable period, and calls on the other local authorities involved to shoulder their own responsibilities in so far as the matter falls within their remit;
4. Hopes that the plan will meet criteria of maximum transparency as regards the arrangements for awarding contracts for the various stages of the waste cycle, in particular preventing infiltration by organised crime and in general preventing contracts from being awarded to businesses which do not guarantee efficient and precise implementation of the plan itself;
5. Supports the Commission’s intention of making ERDF cofinancing conditional on the actual implementation of the new waste plan submitted by the Campania Region;
6. Calls on the competent authorities in Campania to take their lead from the good waste management practices which are also adhered to in other regions of Italy;
7. Deplores and condemns absolutely the irresponsible conduct of many people in Campania who have impeded the solution of the crisis and seriously aggravated the already precarious health and environmental conditions in Campania;
8. Calls on the competent authorities in Italy to find an immediate way of disposing of the 6 million tonnes of bales of refuse-derived fuel currently in storage in Campania;
9. Recommends that, in the event of similar emergencies in future, in Campania or elsewhere, other regions which are neither at fault nor involved should not be compelled to take on the task of disposing of untreated waste from the emergency area;
10. Hopes that local authorities in Campania and the Italian national authorities will act in agreement and in close contact with the Commission with a view to the effective and efficient implementation of the new waste plan, so that the launching of a fresh infringement proceedings, and the imposition of the consequent penalties, can be avoided;
11. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Italian Government, the President of Campania Regional Government, the Presidents of the provinces in the Campania Region and the Mayor of Naples.