EU launches infringement proceedings against Italy over single‑use plastics and ‘Green Homes’ directive

Brussels – Italy and sustainability are a difficult combination. The Meloni government remains stuck on single‑use plastics and the “Green Homes” directive, the two areas on which the European Commission has decided to launch and pursue infringement procedures against Italy. In the first case, Brussels had already opened the case in 2024 and is now asking Italy to comply with the Single-Use Plastics Directive and the European Union’s procedural rules on transparency in the internal market. In the second case, the EU executive is launching the procedure today (11 March), issuing a yellow card to Rome and 18 other capitals for failing to submit the draft national building renovation plans required by the Directive on the energy performance of buildings. 

In particular, the Commission has decided to initiate infringement proceedings by sending a letter of formal notice – the first, opening step – to Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, France, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, and Sweden “for failing to submit to the Commission the draft National Building Renovation Plan (NBRP) to the Commission by the deadline of 31 December 2025.” For Brussels, these documents “are an essential and strategic tool for Member States to transform their building stock into a high-performing, energy-efficient, decarbonised asset by 2050.”

 In practice, “these plans are instrumental to improve buildings’ energy performance and thus contribute to lower energy bills,” and the “timely submission of the draft plans allows the Commission to effectively assess each Member State’s strategy, ensuring that the finalised plans are comprehensive, actionable, and aligned with the updated national and EU climate and energy targets.” The EU executive is now asking the Member States concerned to submit their draft plans within two months to avoid further disciplinary action. 

With regard to the Single-Use Plastics Directive, the Commission alleges that Italy “has not fully and correctly transposed” the legislation and that it “did not observe the procedural rules laid down in the Single Market Transparency Directive since it adopted the legislation transposing the Single-Use Plastics Directive before the expiry of the three-month standstill period established in that directive.”

The aim of the rules on plastics is to prevent and reduce the environmental and human health impacts of these products, as well as to promote the transition to a circular economy. This is impossible in Italy, which is being criticised for failing to introduce a minimum threshold for the definition of “plastic,” an exemption for biodegradable plastic products from certain provisions, and a limitation of producers’ responsibility to cover the costs of waste collection. This risks “undermining the Directive’s preventive approach and potentially leading to increased releases of persistent plastic fragments and microplastics into the environment.” The decision has put pressure on the government in Rome, which has two months to avoid being referred to the European Court of Justice.