Governments pushed over EU waste law breaches

The European Commission has announced a raft of new infringement proceedings against 12 EU member states over alleged failures to comply with common environmental rules. All the actions were decided at commissioners' latest quarterly infringements meeting. More announcements are expected.

The Netherlands is to be referred to the European court of justice (ECJ) for "shortcomings" in its implementation of the 1994 packaging directive. Whereas the directive requires member states to set up collection, recycling and recovery schemes, the Commission complains that Dutch law has still not formally provided for this.