# C_2005045EN.01000202.xml

| 19.2.2005 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | C 45/2 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |

19.2.2005

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 45/2

---

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

(First Chamber)

of 16 December 2004

in Case C-277/02 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Oberverwaltungsgericht):
  EU-Wood-Trading GmbH
  v
  Sonderabfall-Management-Gesellschaft Rheinland-Pfalz mbH

   (1)

EU-Wood-Trading GmbH

Sonderabfall-Management-Gesellschaft Rheinland-Pfalz mbH

1

(Environment - Waste - Regulation (EEC) No 259/93 on shipments of waste - Waste intended for recovery - Objections - Powers of the authority of dispatch - Recovery contravening the requirements of Article 4 of Directive 75/442/EEC or those of national provisions - Power of the authority of dispatch to raise such objections)

(2005/C 45/04)

Language of the case: German

In Case C-277/02: reference for a preliminary ruling under Article 234 EC from the Oberverwaltungsgericht Rheinland-Pfalz (Germany), made by decision of 3 July 2002, received on 29 July 2002, in the proceedings between EU-Wood-Trading GmbH and Sonderabfall-Management-Gesellschaft Rheinland-Pfalz mbH Ä the Court (First Chamber), composed of P. Jann, President of the Chamber, A. Rosas, R. Silva de Lapuerta, K. Lenaerts and K. Schiemann (Rapporteur), Judges; P. Léger, Advocate General; L. Hewlett, Administrator, for the Registrar, has given a judgment on 16 December 2004, in which it has ruled:

EU-Wood-Trading GmbH

Sonderabfall-Management-Gesellschaft Rheinland-Pfalz mbH

| 1. | The first indent of Article 7(4)(a) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 259/93 of 1 February 1993 on the supervision and control of shipments of waste within, into and out of the European Community, as amended by Commission Decisions 98/368/EC of 18 May 1998 and 1999/816/EC of 24 November 1999, is to be interpreted as meaning that the objections to a shipment of waste for recovery which the competent authorities of dispatch and of destination are empowered to raise may be based on considerations connected not only to the actual transport of the waste in each competent authority's area of jurisdiction but also on the recovery planned for that shipment. |
| --- | --- |

1.

The first indent of Article 7(4)(a) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 259/93 of 1 February 1993 on the supervision and control of shipments of waste within, into and out of the European Community, as amended by Commission Decisions 98/368/EC of 18 May 1998 and 1999/816/EC of 24 November 1999, is to be interpreted as meaning that the objections to a shipment of waste for recovery which the competent authorities of dispatch and of destination are empowered to raise may be based on considerations connected not only to the actual transport of the waste in each competent authority's area of jurisdiction but also on the recovery planned for that shipment.

| 2. | The first indent of Article 7(4)(a) of Regulation No 259/93, as amended by Decisions 98/368 and 1999/816, is to be interpreted as meaning that for the purposes of an objection to a shipment of waste the competent authority of dispatch may, in assessing the effects on health and the environment of the recovery envisaged at the destination, provided it complies with the principle of proportionality, rely on the criteria to which, to avoid such effects, the recovery of waste is subject in the State of dispatch, even where those criteria are stricter than those in force in the State of destination. |
| --- | --- |

2.

The first indent of Article 7(4)(a) of Regulation No 259/93, as amended by Decisions 98/368 and 1999/816, is to be interpreted as meaning that for the purposes of an objection to a shipment of waste the competent authority of dispatch may, in assessing the effects on health and the environment of the recovery envisaged at the destination, provided it complies with the principle of proportionality, rely on the criteria to which, to avoid such effects, the recovery of waste is subject in the State of dispatch, even where those criteria are stricter than those in force in the State of destination.

| 3. | The second indent of Article 7(4)(a) of Regulation No 259/93, as amended by Decisions 98/368 and 1999/816, is to be interpreted as meaning that a competent authority of dispatch may not rely on those provisions to raise an objection to a shipment of waste based on the fact that the planned recovery does not comply with the national laws and regulations for protection of the environment, public order, public safety or health protection. |
| --- | --- |

3.

The second indent of Article 7(4)(a) of Regulation No 259/93, as amended by Decisions 98/368 and 1999/816, is to be interpreted as meaning that a competent authority of dispatch may not rely on those provisions to raise an objection to a shipment of waste based on the fact that the planned recovery does not comply with the national laws and regulations for protection of the environment, public order, public safety or health protection.

---

(1)  OJ C 200 of 23.08.2003.

1

---