Environment Minister Gratiela Leocadia Gavrilescu told on Thursday a press conference in Iasi that three municipalities in Romania are targeted by the infringement procedure initiated in Brussels regarding the air quality, but Iasi is the only city close to being sent to the European Court of Justice for this issue, and the sanctions will have to be paid by the Romanian state, by all its citizens.
"Three municipalities in Romania are under infringement procedure. The only one which remains and is one step away from being sent to the European Justice Court is Iasi Municipality, due to the measures it failed to take in order to improve the quality of the air. The other two municipalities, Bucharest respectively, will have the approval procedures for the air quality measure plan approved within two months and in Brasov Municipality it is already being implemented, through the actual setting up of the study on air quality measures in view of drawing up this measure plan. (...) We will be sent to the European Commission on Iasi Municipality's case, we all, meaning Romania's population and the Romanian state will pay. I don't think any citizen from another county or municipality has the wish to pay a penny because some people who lead at present Iasi City Hall do not want to implement a law and don't want to understand that the citizen must live in a clean, healthy environment," the minister said.