Sulphur dioxide is well known for its hazardous effects to human health as well as the damage it can cause the environment, with its contribution to acid rain. For this reason, the European Union introduced the ‘sulphur legislation’, which had the main aim of reducing these effects. However, nearly a year and a half after the deadline for transposition, Romania has not yet introduced the new EU rules on the sulphur content of marine fuels into its national legislation.

As a result of this, the commission has asked the Court of Justice of the EU to hand out a relevant fine until the rules have been introduced. The initial proposal is said to be over €38,000 a day, from the date of the court ruling until the rules are finally transposed into their national law. Under the Lisbon Treaty, the actions of Romania have been taken into account and the seriousness of the infringement has been considered which led to the commission processing the complaint. The final ruling will be made by the courts and the penalty cannot exceed the proposal laid out by the commission.

Air pollution is becoming an ever-more serious problem as cities around the world look to reduce their emissions from their main offenders. With emissions from shipping set to pass the combined emissions from all land-based sources, the commission clearly feels that Romania are not doing enough to lessen the problem.