Ireland faces action over protected sites
The European Commission has opened infringement proceedings against Ireland for failure to fulfil its obligations under two environmental directives.
The commission has sent a letter of formal notice – the first step in the process – to Ireland for failing to fully transpose the Single-Use Plastics Directive into Irish law.
Ireland also faces separate proceedings for failing to fulfil its obligations under the Habitats Directive and Birds Directive, with the EU body highlighting the impact of the delay in this area on renewable-energy projects.
Plastics costs
On the plastics directive, the commission says that Ireland has correctly transposed many of its core obligations into national law, but notes several elements that have not been transferred.
These include a requirement for producers of single-use plastic items to cover the costs of awareness-raising initiatives and an obligation for producers to ensuring that they cover litter clean-up costs incurred by public authorities.
“Furthermore, the Irish law lacks measures specified for achieving a quantifiable reduction in single-use plastics in 2026 and for ensuring separate collection for recycling certain single-use plastics,” the EU body states.
SCIs and SPAs
Separately, the commission says that Ireland has not yet proposed marine sites of community importance (SCIs), designed to protect the EU’s most threatened habitats and species, under the directive on habitats.
According to the EU body, Ireland has not yet classified marine SPAs (special protection areas) in coastal and offshore areas for certain bird species.
“The failure to propose such sites, so many years after the deadline has passed, obstructs the rapid roll-out of renewable-energy projects as it creates legal uncertainty for authorities and developers,” it adds.
In both sets of proceedings, Ireland has two months to respond and address the shortcomings identified by the commission.
In 2023, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that Ireland had failed to fulfil some of its obligations under the directive on habitats.