(ANSA) - Brindisi, January 22 - Lazio's Regional
Administrative Court (TAR) has decided to send the European
Court of Justice the appeal regarding the operation designed to
stop the spread of the Xylella fastidiosa disease, it said in a
decision published Friday.
The appeal was presented by environmental associations and
Puglia farmers against the chopping down of olive trees in the
region.
In May, the TAR issued an order suspending the chopping
down of the trees, which remains in place despite the court's
Friday decision to suspend proceedings in progress.
In its decision, the Court said it "shares the doubts"
brought by the plaintiffs in their appeal, in which they called
into question the eradication plan's compliance under European
Union law.
The anti-Xylella operation is an EU-mandated measure that
formed the basis for an Italian ministerial decree and
subsequent interventions to chop the trees down, drawn up by
former extraordinary commissioner in charge of containing
Xylella, Giuseppe Silletti.
Silletti resigned his position in December after being
placed under investigation along with nine others who may face
charges of spreading a plant disease, malicious violation of
environmental regulations, falsifying public documents, forgery,
and destroying or damaging natural beauties.
In November, the EC sent Italy a letter as the first step
of an infringement procedure over the anti-Xylella measure,
claiming that Italy is not fully respecting its obligations in
the plan to eradicate Xylella.
The Lazio TAR is asking the European Court of Justice in
Luxembourg to evaluate whether the principles of "adequacy and
proportionality preclude the application" of the decision to
chop down the trees.
The TAR also cited the lack of scientific analysis proving
that Xylella is in fact the cause of the olive trees' infection.
The Xylella fastidiosa bacteria, which infects trees and
slowly kills them, was first detected in southern Italy in 2013,
marking the first outbreak of its kind in the European Union.
It reportedly caused about a million olive trees in Puglia
to die as of last summer.
Italy started chopping down affected olive trees in Puglia
last April, after the epidemic prompted France to declare an
embargo on products from the southern Italian region at risk of
infection from the deadly pathogen.
The drastic plan to destroy infected Puglia trees and others
seen as being at risk of infection and to create buffer zones to
stop the bacteria spreading was drafted after the European
Commission demanded "strict precautionary measures".
Xylella case sent to EU Court of Justice
Ruling on adequacy, proportionality of plan requested