Proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) amending Regulation (EEC) No 259/93 on the supervision and control of shipments of waste within, into and out of the European Community (95/C 164/05) (Text with EEA relevance) COM(95) 143 final - 95/0107(SYN)

(Submitted by the Commission on 3 May 1995)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 130s (1) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

In cooperation with the European Parliament,

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee,

Having regard to 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 (1), and in particular Article 16 thereof,

Whereas the European Economic Community is a Party to the Basel Convention on the control of transboundary movements of hazardous waste and their disposal since 7 February 1994;

Whereas at the Second Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention a Decision ('Decision II/12`) was adopted by consensus to prohibit immediately all transboundary movements of hazardous wastes which are destined for final disposal from OECD to non-OECD States and to prohibit as of 1 January 1998, all transboundary movements of hazardous wastes which are destined for recycling or recovery operations from OECD to non-OECD States;

Whereas the Parties are requested to cooperate and work actively to ensure the effective implementation of Decision II/12;

Whereas with respect to waste destined for final disposal, Article 14 of Regulation (EEC) No 259/93 already prohibits all exports of such kind of waste to non-OECD States; whereas Article 18 of the same Regulation prohibits all exports of waste to ACP States;

Whereas currently Regulation (EEC) No 259/93 does not provide for a total prohibition of exports of hazardous waste destined for recycling or recovery operations to non-OECD States,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EEC) No 259/93 is hereby amended as follows:

1. Article 16 (1) is replaced by the following:

'Article 16

1. All exports of waste listed in Annexes III and IV for recovery shall be prohibited except those to:

(a) countries to which the OECD Decision applies;

(b) other countries:

- which are Parties to the Basel Convention and/or with which the Community, or the Community and its Member States, have concluded bilateral or multilateral or regional agreements or arrangements in accordance with Article 11 of the Basel Convention and paragraph 2. Any such exports shall however be prohibited from 1 January 1998 onwards,

- with which individual Member States have concluded bilateral agreements and arrangements prior to the date of application of this Regulation, in so far as these are compatible with Community legislation and in accordance with Article 11 of the Basel Convention and paragraph 2. These agreements and arrangements shall be notified to the Commission within three months of the date of application of this Regulation or of their date of application, whichever is earlier, and shall expire when agreements or arrangements are concluded in accordance with the first indent. Any such exports shall however be prohibited as from 1 January 1998 onwards.`

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

(1) OJ No L 30, 6. 2. 1993, p. 1.