In an early challenge for Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's incoming prime minister, the EU is suing the country for failing to end a rubbish crisis that has left the city of Naples strewn with waste.

An official at the European commission, the EU's executive arm, said: "We are taking Italy to court over its handling of the waste management crisis.

"We note that proposals are being made by Italy to improve the situation, but on the basis of the timetable given, the commission is not convinced that this issue will be solved quickly enough."

Italy faces heavy fines if the Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice rules in favour of the EU.

Brussels gave Italy a final warning in January that it risked being taken to the court over the case.

Health crisis

Waste collection in Naples and the surrounding Campania region was halted in December when almost every dump was declared full and hundreds of tonnes of rubbish piled up in the streets, triggering a health crisis.

Romano Prodi, Italy's outgoing prime minister, appointed Gianni De Gennaro, a former police chief, to tackle the rubbish in January.

However, despite cleaning up the Naples' historic centre, De Gennaro has not yet managed to clear up the wider region or deliver a long-term solution to the problem.

A large incinerator, designed to produce electricity using refuse as fuel, has been built near Naples but has yet to open.

"The work on this (incinerator) has moved very slow, too slow," the commission official said.

"But we hope the new Italian government will move to make this happen very quickly as it will go a long way to solving part of the problem."

This week locals blocked a rubbish dump and set fire to rubbish piles in a northern suburb of Naples.

Italy has said that much of the problem is down to the local mafia who are believed to control large parts of the waste business.







Source: Agencies