The European Commission has requested the Czech Republic and Poland respectively to bring their national laws on the protection of groundwater against pollution and deterioration into line with the Groundwater Directive and the assessment and management of flood risks into line with the Floods Directive.
On the Groundwater Directive, Member States had to transpose into their national legislation by 16 January 2009. The Commission identified shortcomings in the Czech Republic's transposition of the legislation and sent a letter of formal notice on 20 June 2013.
The Czech Republic subsequently amended its legislation, but the Commission said a notable problem remains with regard to the method of setting more stringent threshold values in certain cases.
The European Commission has now sent a reasoned opinion to the Czech Republic. If it fails to act within two months, the Commission may refer the Czech Republic to the EU Court of Justice.
In a separate case, the Commission has also requested Poland to bring its national laws on the assessment and management of flood risks into line with the Floods Directive.
Under EU law, Member States have to perform flood risk assessments for their river basins, and draw up emergency plans. The Commission has identified shortcomings in Poland's transposition of this legislation into its domestic law, and sent a letter of formal notice on 18 October 2013. Poland subsequently notified the amended Water Act, but the EC said the transposition of the definition of 'flood' still remains problematic as it restricts the scope of the Directive by excluding some sources of flooding, which may have an impact on the implementation of the whole Directive in Poland.
If Poland fails to act within two months, the Commission may also refer Poland to the EU Court of Justice.
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