EC to sue Bulgaria, Romania over urban wastewater handling

The European Commission said on Thursday that it has decided to refer Bulgaria and Romania to the EU Court of Justice for failing to adequately collect and treat urban wastewater.   The EU's Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive mandates that the water must be collected and treated before it is discharged into the environment, with towns and cities required to implement the necessary infrastructure to do so, the Commission said in a statement, part of its November package of infringement decisions. Bulgaria and Romania which joined the EU in 2007 were granted derogations to comply with the directive as part of their EU Accession Treaty.   Ten big agglomerations with more than 10,000 residents in Bulgaria do not meet the directive's requirements for wastewater collecting systems. Additionally, 20 agglomerations are not properly treating their wastewater, and in another 30 big agglomerations, the treatment of the water before discharge into sensitive areas is not stringent enough.   These obligations should have been met by the end of 2010, the EU executive body said. The Commission sent a letter of formal notice to Bulgaria in July 2017, followed by a reasoned opinion on the matter in May 2020.   In Romania, 150 big agglomerations fail to meet the directive's requirements for collecting systems, while 154 do not treat their wastewater adequately, the Commission said. At the same time, 155 big agglomerations fail to implement stricter treatment measures for wastewater before discharging it into sensitive areas. Romanian towns and cities had until December 31, 2015, to comply with the directive. The Commission sent a letter of formal notice to the country in June 2018, followed by an additional letter of formal notice in October 2020 and a reasoned opinion in February 2022.   The Commission said that it considers that efforts by the Bulgarian and Romanian authorities until now have been insufficient, although both countries have received significant EU funding for urban wastewater treatment through cohesion policy projects. Under the directive, EU countries must have wastewater collection systems in all agglomerations with at least 2,000 residents, or implement alternative solutions that ensure the same level of environmental protection.