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MINISTERS’ DEPUTIES |
Decisions |
CM/Del/Dec(2024)1514/H46-22 |
5 December 2024 |
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1514th meeting, 3-5 December 2024 (DH)
H46-22 Cordella and Others v. Italy (Application No. 54414/13) Supervision of the execution of the European Court’s judgments
Reference documents |
Decisions
The Deputies
1. recalled that this group of cases concerns the authorities’ failure to take the necessary measures to ensure the protection of the applicants from pollution caused by the ex-ILVA steel plant in Taranto, and the lack of effective remedies enabling them to obtain measures securing the depollution of the areas concerned;
As regards individual measures
2. invited the authorities to pay to the applicants’ lawyer the sums awarded by the Court for costs and expenses in Ardimento and Others with regard to those applicants which, for this purpose, provided a signed written agreement and copy of and identification document; invited the authorities to provide information on the conclusion of this process and the payment of the just satisfaction in Cordella and Others;
3. noting that the case of A.A. and Others concerns the same violations with respect to the operation of the same plant as in the remaining cases and therefore require the same measures to remedy the shortcomings identified by the Court, decided to close this case without prejudice to the examination of the required general measures in this group and adopted Final Resolution CM/ResDH(2024)334;
As regards general measures
4. noted with satisfaction the information indicating that in September 2023 almost the entirety of the works envisaged by the environmental plan to reduce the plant’s emissions output had been carried out; invited the authorities to complete the remaining works and to keep the Committee informed;
5. emphasised that the execution of this judgment requires ensuring that as a result of the measures adopted, the functioning of the ex-ILVA steelworks no longer jeopardises human health and the environment; noted therefore with regret that the authorities have not yet provided the requested comprehensive study to assess this crucial issue, despite the information on the persistence of serious health problems in the Taranto region;
6. urged the authorities to carry out, in the context of the ongoing process for the renewal of the authorisations for the operation of the steelworks, an independent and comprehensive study, with the involvement of the health sector, of the effect of all harmful substances emitted by the steelworks, including on water and soil; strongly called on them to guarantee that the continued functioning of the steelworks will be authorised only when unequivocal scientific evidence demonstrates its compatibility with the protection of human health and the environment and invited them to clarify how they will ensure that a similar approach is followed in respect of future authorisations;
7. noting with interest the information on the possibility to initiate civil proceedings to obtain preventive and remedial orders in protection of the right to health from harmful industrial activities, considered that it does not allow to assess the scope and nature of the measures that can be ordered by the courts and their adequacy to address the violations of Article 13 in these cases; called therefore on the authorities to provide additional information on this issue and examples of judicial decisions demonstrating the effectiveness of this or any other remedy to prevent similar violations and reiterated their call on the authorities, in the absence of such elements, to rapidly adopt the necessary measures, including legislative, to address the Court’s findings in this respect;
8. noted with regret that legislation adopted in 2023, which established a criminal immunity from prosecution for those managing plants similar to that criticised by the Court in these cases, represents a setback in the execution process; called on the authorities to provide their assessment of this reform, addressing also the concerns of the representative of some of the applicants, and to ensure the alignment of the situation with the Court’s findings on this issue;
9. requested the authorities to intensify their efforts to ensure the full execution of these judgments in close cooperation with the Secretariat and to provide information on all remaining outstanding questions outlined above no later than end of June 2025.