Romania received a warning on Wednesday for failing to fully comply with the Landfill and Waste Framework Directives despite having already been fined by the European Court of Justice in December, euractiv.com informs. According to the Commission, Romania has successfully closed and rehabilitated 92 landfills and plans to address five more by 2026-2028. However, the situation for four others remains uncertain despite ambitious targets to send less than 10% of municipal solid waste generated to landfills by 2035. Environment, Water and Forests Minister Mircea Fechet has stressed the urgency of closing or rehabilitating at least 31 hazardous and non-hazardous industrial waste sites to avoid EU fines. During a site visit to Sofert Bacau, a 16-hectare dangerous waste landfill in north-eastern Romania, Fechet highlighted the daily fines of €18,000 incurred by this site alone, which has been storing hazardous phosphogypsum industrial waste since communist times. Today, a significant amount of recyclable material still ends up in landfills rather than in factories, while Romania is still unable to control waste imports, the minister said in an earlier statement. On 14 December, the EU Court of Justice (CJEU) imposed a fine of €1.5 million on Romania, along with daily penalties of €600, for delays in closing non-compliant waste dumps. The CJEU noted that the failure to fulfil obligations has lasted more than four years since 2018, described as “a considerable duration”. In addition, the CJEU pointed to “a significant risk of pollution and serious consequences for human health, in particular through the release of harmful chemicals into soil, air and water”.
“Catane,” a dark comedy inspired by real events and directed by Ioana Mischie, is set to have its first special screenings in Romania after a successful festival circuit. The film had its world premiere at the IFFI Goa festival in India and was nominated this year at the Hollywood Music in Media Awards for Best […]
Romania is among the European countries where water reserves are decreasing at an alarming rate, according to an analysis carried out by researchers from University College London in collaboration with The Guardian and Watershed Investigations. Scientists analyzed data from the period 2002–2024 provided by satellites that monitor changes in the Earth's...
George Smyth, 18, went missing on a hike near Romania’s famous Bran Castle more than a week ago. On November 23, the British citizen started to suffer from hypothermia and exhaustion and called the emergency services. Trying to locate him, mountain rescue services conducted searches over the next few days but were only able to […]
Over 107,000 people in Prahova and Dâmbovița counties, in southern Romania, have been without drinking water since Friday, November 28, due to problems at the Paltinu Dam. According to local authorities, the problems are set to persist until next week. The dam registered a drop in water levels, leading to problems in the water distribution system. […]
A special ‘Silent Day’ event will be held at the Bucharest Christmas Market in Constituției Square on Wednesday, December 3, aimed at creating a quieter and more accessible environment for children with sensory disabilities. The initiative is designed to make the festive market manageable for children who may struggle with loud noise, bright lights, and […]
Romanians have the highest level of trust in others in the European Union, according to the most recent Eurostat data for the year 2024, ahead of the usual leader of the ranking, Finland. The indicator ‘trust in others’ measures a person’s trust in people they do not know on a scale from 0 (‘I...
