Malta
has broken more environment rules than any other new EU member state,
according to a report card issued yesterday by the European Commission.
Brussels
is not at all pleased with the way the environment is being handled by
Malta
and is expecting various initiatives to be taken in order to come closer
to EU standards.
The report analyses the country's progress on environment policy in
2007. It shows
Malta
is a laggard on a number of counts including the reduction of greenhouse
gas emissions, measures on climate change, halting biodiversity and
recycling of waste.
Until the end of last year,
Malta
was facing the highest number of infringement procedures for breaking EU
environmental rules among the 12 new EU member states. Half of the
infringements (12 out of 26) related to air legislation.
The report acknowledges the fact that
Malta
needed to start almost from scratch in the environment sector when it
joined the EU and has already started putting in place important
policies and infrastructure, such as sewage treatment plants, energy
efficient incentives and new waste policies. However, much more needs to
be done, the report insists.
One of the areas in which
Malta
has to work much harder is greenhouse gas emissions. As the EU works
towards a reduction,
Malta
is moving in the opposite direction by registering rapid increases in
emissions, caused by a higher energy demand.
"Greenhouse gas emissions have continued to rise in recent years
and reached 3.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2005, an increase of
6.1 per cent compared to 2004. Under its existing policies, emissions
are projected to more than double between the base year (1990) and
2010," the report says.
According to the Commission, most climate-related action last year
addressed energy consumption with subsidies for more efficient household
appliances and renewable energy while the possibility of an offshore
wind farm and a connection to the European energy networks to buy
renewable-sourced electricity are being investigated. The Commission
commented positively on these initiatives stating that, if implemented,
they would "serve to diversify the energy mix".
Protecting nature and biodiversity is also seen as another hurdle for
Malta
.
Apart from stressing the fact the
Malta
is the only EU member state still permitting spring hunting, which this
year forced the Commission to take
Malta
to the
European Court
, the Commission states that it seems unlikely that
Malta
will meet its target of halting the decline in biodiversity by 2010.
"As part of Natura 2000 network, by the end of 2007 Malta had
proposed 12 Special Protection Areas (SPA) and 27 Sites of Community
Importance (SCI) covering respectively 4.5 per cent and 12.6 per cent of
its area. The present coverage of SPAs in particular is insufficient and
the European Commission has launched legal proceedings to require
further sites to be designated."
The same criticism applies to waste issues, particularly the need of
recycling and reducing waste production.
The report states that in 2006,
Malta
produced an average of 652 kilos of municipal waste per capita, way
above the EU average. "
Malta
performs badly in terms of municipal waste recycling: 86 per cent was
landfilled (more than double of EU average) with only 13 per cent
recycled or composted. Significant efforts need to be undertaken in
order to change the situation and allow the country to comply with the
targets of the Packaging Directive, the Landfill Directive and the
requirements of the revised Waste Framework Directive."
Malta
has never reported data on the recycling rate of packaging waste and the
European Commission has launched an infringement procedure for not
respecting this mandatory reporting.
The EU executive said that all of these problems are accentuated by the
fact that
Malta
is the highest breaker of EU environmental rules when compared to its
new counterparts.
