Court advisor urges EU waste export limits
by Environment Daily
23 September 2004 –
A European court of justice advisor has recommended that EU member state authorities be allowed wider powers to block waste exports on environmental protection grounds. In an opinion released on Thursday advocate-general Philippe Léger says the country of export should be allowed to block shipments to other member states if they can demonstrate that waste treatment standards are lower there than at home.
If confirmed by the court, it is thought the interpretation would, for the first time, give authorities the power to block shipments for treatment abroad by referring to domestic legislation.
The principle should apply even if the receiving country is willing to accept the waste, Mr Léger says, and even if the waste is destined for recovery, a treatment option that usually triggers more lenient export rules.
The case was prompted by a complaint from German firm EU Wood Trading after authorities in Rheinland-Pfalz blocked a shipment of waste wood destined for conversion into chipboard in Italy. German authorities said the lead content of residual paint on the wood exceeded local standards and justified the export ban by arguing that contaminated chipboard might be reimported into Germany.
Mr Léger's opinion draws on a previous judgement on waste shipments in which the court favoured greater powers for the despatching authority (ED 27/02/02 http://www.environmentdaily.com/articles/index.cfm?action=article&ref=11671).
A judgement in the current case could be issued within months. But industry sources suggest the ruling could be made redundant by imminent revised EU waste shipment rules giving member states much wider grounds to block exports (ED 13/09/04 http://www.environmentdaily.com/articles/index.cfm?action=article&ref=17241).
Follow-up: European court of justice http://www.curia.eu.int/, tel: +352 43031, and opinion in case C-277/02 http://www.curia.eu.int/jurisp/cgi-bin/form.pl?lang=en&Submit=Submit&docrequire=alldocs&numaff=c-277/02.
FAIR USE NOTICE. This document contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. The Basel Action Network is making this article available in our efforts to advance understanding of ecological sustainability and environmental justice issues. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
More News
|
