NEWS | Sunday, 15 July 2007

Maltese government rapped over emissions from Marsa, Delimara again

By Charlot Zahra
The European Commission has sent a second formal warning letter to Maltese authorities for failure to comply with a European Union Directive on emissions from both Marsa and Delimara power stations.
Commission sources told MaltaToday that the Reasoned Opinion was sent on 27 June after the Commission decided that the violation of the Large Combustion Plants Directive (Directive 2001/80/EC) persisted.
According to these sources, the Maltese authorities have failed to comply with the Directive’s requirements in regard to emissions from the Phase One steam plant in Delimara power station.
In addition, no up-to-date information regarding the emissions from Delimara or Marsa power stations, in line with the requirements of the Directive, has been presented to the Commission.
These sources explained that if the Maltese Government does not comply with the Directive within two months’ time, then the Commission can take the case in front of the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg for violation of the EU Treaty.
Where the Court of Justice finds that the Treaty has been infringed, the offending Member State is required to take the measures necessary to bring itself into conformity with that Directive.
The first step in the infringement procedure – a Letter of Formal Notice requesting a Member State to submit its observations by a specified date, usually two months – was sent to the Maltese authorities on 21 March.
The first letter was sent to the Ministry for Rural Affairs and the Environment through the Maltese Permanent Representation in Brussels.
A response was received from the Maltese authorities on 1 June. The response indicated that the failure to comply with the requirements of the Directive was “ongoing” and therefore led to the Reasoned Opinion.
Directive 2001/80/EC (repealing Directive 88/609/EEC) on emission limitations from large combustion plants applies to combustion plants with a rated thermal input equal to or greater than 50 MW.
It particularly requires that new installations comply with certain emission limit values for sulphur dioxides, nitrogen oxides and dust (depending on the kind of fuel and size of the installation) and to take into consideration the combined use of heat and power.