The European Commission has initiated two new procedures against Cyprus regarding water management and the submission of updated national energy and climate plans.
The Commission issued a formal notice to Cyprus as part of its regular package of infringement decisions, made public on Thursday. This letter requests further information from Cyprus, which must respond with a detailed reply.
If the Commission finds that Cyprus is failing to meet its obligations under EU law, it may issue a reasoned opinion.
Should Cyprus still not comply, the Commission could refer the matter to the Court of Justice, potentially leading to penalties.
The Commission decided to open an infringement procedure by sending letters of formal notice to Cyprus and Belgium for failing to periodically review water permits in line with the Water Framework Directive.
The directive requires member states to establish a programme of measures for each river basin district to ensure good status of European water bodies, such as rivers and lakes.
These measures must be included in the river basin management plans which must be established and reported to the Commission every six years.
Each programme of measures must include basic measures to control different types of water abstraction, impoundment, point source discharge, diffuse sources liable to cause pollution and any other significant adverse impacts on water quality.
Member states are required to periodically review and update these controls to determine whether the measures in place still achieve their objectives.
In Cyprus, the national legislation does not impose any kind of periodic review, as required by the Directive. The Commission is therefore sending a letter of formal notice and Cyprus now has two months to respond and address the shortcomings raised by the Commission. In the absence of a satisfactory response, the Commission may decide to issue a reasoned opinion.
The Commission has already initiated similar infringement procedures against the Netherlands, Austria, Slovenia and Finland.
The European Commission decided to open an infringement procedure by sending a letter of formal notice to Cyprus, as well as Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, Greece, Croatia, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia and Slovakia for failing to submit their final updated National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) in line with the Regulation on the Governance of the Energy Union and Climate Action.
The updated NECPs are crucial for ensuring that member states have a concrete roadmap to achieve the EU’s goals for greenhouse gas emissions reduction, renewable energy and energy efficiency, among others.
They also enable the Commission to assess member states’ collective progress towards the EU’s 2030 climate and energy targets.
All member states were required to submit their final updated NECPs by June 30, 2024. To date, the Commission has received only 14 final plans.
Following extensive communication after the submission of draft plans and subsequent Commission recommendations, 13 member states have yet to submit their final updated NECPs. The Commission considers this a breach of their obligations under the Governance Regulation and has issued letters of formal notice.
Cyprus now has two months to respond. If the response is unsatisfactory, the Commission may issue a reasoned opinion.
