EC Refers Slovakia to EU Court of Justice for Failure to Meet Flood Risk Duties

Bratislava, April 30 (TASR) - The European Commission (EC) on Tuesday decided to refer Slovakia to the Court of Justice of the European Union for its failure to meet its obligations regarding reviewing, updating and providing notification of flood risk management plans during the previous government's term, the Environment Ministry's communications department has informed TASR. Environment Minister Tomas Taraba (a Slovak National Party/SNS nominee) is in constant contact with EU institutions in order to resolve the situation as soon as possible, said the department. "Slovakia was supposed to provide an update of flood risk management plans by December 22, 2021. However, it hasn't adopted flood risk management plans. The documents necessary for adopting flood risk management plans, i.e. flood risk maps, haven't been reviewed and updated, either," explained Taraba. He added that former environment minister Jan Budaj and former state secretary Michal Kica decimated the state-run Slovak Water-management Company (SVP), which is responsible for reviewing and updating flood risk management plans. The current management of the Environment Ministry claims that it's taking the necessary measures to stabilise the running of SVP. SVP, along with the Slovak Environmental Agency, has prepared an update of the flood risk management plan for the country's sub-basins. It's a strategic document that is currently undergoing an EIA procedure. The ministry wants to have it definitively approved within the next few months. The ministry added that the EC's motion contains no proposals for financial sanctions. The EU Court of Justice will only judge weather obligations were met within the deadline set in a reasoned opinion. ko/df