The EC has activated the infringement procedure against Romania, because of illegal logging

"In the case of Romania, the national authorities have not been able to effectively verify the operators and to apply appropriate sanctions. The inconsistencies in the national legislation do not allow the Romanian authorities to check large quantities of illegally harvested wood. In addition, the Commission has found that the Romanian authorities manage forests, including by authorizing logging, without first assessing the impact on protected habitats, as provided for by the Habitats Directive and the Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive", the European Commission representatives have stated in a press release issued Wednesday to MEDIAFAX.

The source has said that "there are deficiencies in public access to environmental information in forest management plans".

The European Commission has also found that "some protected forest habitats have disappeared from Natura 2000 protected sites, which is a violation of the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive".

Thus, the EC decided, on Wednesday, to send Romania a letter about delay. Our country has "a period of one month to take the necessary measures to remedy the deficiencies identified by the Commission".

Otherwise, the European Commission may decide to send a reasoned opinion to the Romanian authorities.

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