European officials have filed a lawsuit against Sweden after Stockholm ignored orders to begin licensing industrial sites. The legal action comes in regards to the implementation of new regulations in 2007 designed to protect the region’s environment. Under the rules, member-states are required to license and regulate industrial areas in order to ensure compliance with bloc-wide rules.
However, an official statement released by the executive European Commission said that both Sweden and Greece were being pursued for failing to comply. The two countries will be required to pay financial penalties applied on a daily basis for each site, and there are already in excess of two dozen locations in Sweden that have been brought under scrutiny by the European Court of Justice, according to a report issued by The Local news agency.
Experts note that such issues and the implementation of pan-EU regulations often take years to resolve with the governments of member states. Among other recent confrontations with the European Commission, Poland Austria and Finland have been sued over labour laws regarding self-transport workers, whilst the UK came under fire for its handling of VAT charges on energy bills.