The German government has been given a deadline for its response to a EU complaint filed by Poland regarding illegal waste, according to Polish environment minister Anna Moskwa. Writing on Twitter late last week, the minister said that the European Commission has given Germany until 7 September to submit its reply to Polish allegations that it has failed to repatriate 35,000 tonnes of illegally exported waste. Both parties to the case were to be heard at a meeting scheduled for 20 September, she added.
The Polish government made good on its earlier warnings in July and lodged an official complaint against Germany with the European Union, arguing that in not removing the waste, its western neighbour was failing to meet its obligations under EU law. The German federal environmental ministry maintains that the responsibility for illegal waste shipments, including organising the repatriation of such waste, lies with the German states from which the waste originated. Poland is seeking an action before the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
Waste disposal and the management of illegally imported waste has become a hot button issue in run-up to Polish national elections on 15 October. Earlier this month, Minsiter Moskwa held an emergency meeting and press conference in Zielona Góra near the site of a July fire at an illegal hazardous waste site....
