The European Commission has opened an infringement procedure against Italy for failing to fully and correctly transpose the Single-Use Plastics Directive (SUPD) and for breaching the obligations under the Single Market Transparency Directive.
The Commission has accused Italy of failing to ‘transpose, or to transpose correctly, several provisions of the Single-Use Plastics Directive into national law, which affects its scope and application’.
The EU body did not specify which SUPD provisions Italy has failed to (correctly) transpose into national law. However, environmental groups like Greenpeace Italy and Rethink Plastics Alliance have reported the Italian Decree (196/2021) implementing the SUPD for ‘directly contradicting’ EU legislation.
Contrary to the SUPD, Article 5(3) of the Italian Decree provides an exemption from the ban for single-use plastic products that are biodegradable or compostable, for example. Moreover, the Italian Decree has a laxer definition of ‘plastic’ than the SUPD, excluding paints, inks, adhesives, and plastic coating weighing less than 10% of the total weigh of the product from the bans.
The Commission also accused Italy of adopting the Italian Decree during a three-month standstill period when negotiations with the EU body were still ongoing. That breached the procedural rules laid down by the Single Market Transparency Directive, whose objective is to prevent the creation of obstacles in the internal market.
On a May 23 announcement, the Commission said it sent Italy a letter of formal notice. Italy now has two months to respond and address the shortcomings raised by the Commission. In the absence of a satisfactory response, the Commission may decide to issue a reasoned opinion, i.e. a formal request to comply with EU law. If Italy still doesn't comply, the Commission may decide to refer the matter to the Court of Justice.