| Author (Person) | Bower, Helen | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Publisher | ProQuest Information and Learning | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series Title | In Focus | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series Details | 4.5.02 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Publication Date | 05/04/2002 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Content Type | News, Overview, Topic Guide | In Focus | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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European companies are realising the potential costs of the EU's determination to enforce its polluter pays principle with the European Parliament's backing of the Directives on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) and hazardous substances (ROHS) on 10 April 2002 following soon after the European Commission's proposal on environmental liability. While the latter foresees companies meeting the costs of cleaning up any environmental damage they cause as well as employing preventive measures to avoid environmental damage in the first place, the WEEE and ROHS Directives provide for producers financing the recycling or safe disposal of waste electronic and electrical equipment. While the two draft Directives look set to be subject to the conciliation procedure since the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament have differing views over the detail of the legislation, it remains likely that producers will be bearing the cost of the recycling or disposal of such waste from 2005. Commenting on the European Parliament's backing of the directive, European Commissioner for the Environment, Margot Wallström, said
Background The European Commission adopted the initial proposals on the Directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment on 13 June 2000 and an earlier European Sources Online: In Focus The European Parliament voted on 15 May 2001 to amend the date for the hazardous material ban in the Directive to 2006 while the Council of the European Union, meeting on 7 June 2001, set a target date of January 2007 for a ban on hazardous materials including lead. The European Parliament also proposed that each individual producer should pay their respective costs while the Council recommended collective responsibility for these producers. The Council's common position on WEEE and ROHS were therefore returned to the European Parliament on 4 December 2001. They were passed on to the European Parliament's Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy and MEP K-H Florenz was tasked with reporting on them. At a committee meeting in February 2002 Florenz presented both his recommendation on the WEEE Directive and that on the ROHS Directive. Florenz suggested that the European Parliament's second reading of the WEEE should focus on separate collection, treatment and recovery of waste equipment and financing for information for users thereby reintroducing the European Parliament's initial amendments to the proposal and maintaining the individual producer's responsibility. With regard to the ROHS Directive he proposed it should be changed to allow for simultaneous entry into force of the ban on substances on 1 January 2006 and exemption from the ban of spare parts and consumables for equipment placed on the market before the ban entered into force. European Parliament maintains that each producer should pay for recycling waste At the plenary vote of the second reading of the WEEE Directive and ROHS Directives held on 10 April 2002, the European Parliament did indeed confirm their opinion outlined at the first reading that the cost of either recycling or safely disposing of WEEE should fall on each individual producer which differed from the Council's position that there should be collective responsibility. The European Parliament also adopted a number of amendments which differ from the Council's position.
In addition, the European Parliament proposes two further amendments:
WEEE and ROHS Directives to be subject to Conciliation Since the positions of the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union continue to differ the Directives look set to be subject to the conciliation procedure unless the Environment Council, which is expected to consider the amendments at its June 2002 meeting, agrees to the changes. Both the Council and the European Parliament must agree before the Directives can be passed and therefore future changes are possible. The progress of the two proposed Directives can be followed through:
Stakeholders' Response to the Proposals The proposals have received much attention from industry, environment and consumer groups, all of which seem to broadly support the amendments proposed by the European Parliament in its second reading because of the support for individual producer responsibility and the proposed financial guarantee that all producers have to provide. The European Consumers' Organisation called the WEEE Directive "a step in the right direction" and will welcome the European Parliament's decision to support individual responsibility as it urged it to do so in a press release ahead of the vote which said,
This view was echoed by the European Environmental Bureau in a statement made in February 2002. Even Electrolux, the world's largest producer of powered appliances for domestic use, who will clearly face considerable costs if the Directive is passed welcomed the European Parliament's second reading, saying,
Undoubtedly the European Parliament's proposals are more favoured and there is likely to be continued lobbying on the Council to support the Parliament's position. Although the European Parliament and Council of the European Union still have to reach agreement on the exact detail of the WEEE and ROHS Directives, it is possible that the Directives will be passed by the end of 2002 and enter into force around 18 months later. Certainly, European white goods and manufacturers will soon be facing the costs of recycling or disposing of waste electronic and electrical equipment and learning just what costs are involved with the EU's "polluter pays" principle. Further information within European Sources Online:
Further information can be seen in these external links: EU Institutions Further and subsequent information on the subject of this In Focus can be found by an 'Advanced Search' in European Sources Online by inserting 'WEEE' in the keyword field. Helen Bower The European Parliament gave its backing to the Directives on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) and hazardous substances (ROHS) on 10 April 2002 |
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| Subject Categories | Business and Industry, Environment | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
