The European Commission has advanced infringement proceedings against Italy for alleged failures to fully and correctly transpose the Single-Use Plastics Directive (SUPD) into national law. The March infringements package issued this week also included an initial warning to Lithuania concerning the transposition of the Waste Framework Directive.
The Commission announced on Tuesday that it has issued a reasoned opinion to Italy because in transposing the legislation into national law, the member state had effectively altered the scope of the SUPD. According to the EU authority, the most important Italian deviations from the Directive were the introduction of a minimum content threshold in the definition of "plastic", an exemption of biodegradable plastic products from certain provisions, and a limitation of producers' responsibility to cover costs of waste collection.
The reasoned opinion marks the start of the second stage of the infringement process that began in May 2024 (INFR(2024)2053)....
