Case C-277/02

EU-Wood-Trading GmbH

v

Sonderabfall-Management-Gesellschaft Rheinland-Pfalz mbH

(Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Oberverwaltungsgericht Rheinland Pfalz)

(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)

Summary of the Judgment

1. Environment – Waste – Regulation No 259/93 on shipments of waste – Waste for recovery – Notification procedure applicable to shipments between Member States – System for objections raised against a shipment – Objections based on considerations connected both to the transport and to the recovery of the waste – Whether permissible

(Council Regulation No 259/93, Art. 7(4)(a), first indent; Council Directive 75/442, Art. 7)

2. Environment – Waste – Regulation No 259/93 on shipments of waste – Waste for recovery – Notification procedure applicable to shipments between Member States – System for objections raised against a shipment – Objections raised by the competent authority of dispatch – Assessment of the effects of the recovery on health and the environment in the State of destination – Taking into consideration of stricter criteria in force in the State of dispatch – Whether permissible – Conditions

(Council Regulation No 259/93, Art. 7(4)(a), first indent; Council Directive 75/442, Art. 7)

3. Environment – Waste – Regulation No 259/93 on shipments of waste – Waste for recovery – Notification procedure applicable to shipments between Member States – System for objections raised against a shipment – Objections of the competent authority of dispatch based on the non-compliance of the recovery of the waste with the legal provisions of the State of dispatch – Not permissible

(Council Regulation No 259/93, Art. 7(4)(a), second indent)

1. The first indent of Article 7(4)(a) of Regulation No 259/93 on the supervision and control of shipments of waste within, into and out of the European Community, as amended by Decisions 98/368 and 1999/816, under which the competent authorities of dispatch and of destination are empowered to raise, pursuant to Directive 75/442, reasoned objections to a shipment of waste for recovery, is to be interpreted as meaning that such objections 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.

(see para. 43, operative part 1)

2. The first indent of Article 7(4)(a) of Regulation No 259/93 on the supervision and control of shipments of waste within, into and out of the European Community, as amended by Decisions 98/368 and 1999/816, under which the competent authorities of dispatch and destination are empowered to raise, pursuant to Directive 75/442, reasoned objections to a shipment of waste for recovery, 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.

(see para. 54, operative part 2)

3. The second indent of Article 7(4)(a) of Regulation No 259/93 on the supervision and control of shipments of waste within, into and out of the European Community, as amended by Decisions 98/368 and 1999/816, under which the competent authorities of dispatch and destination are empowered to raise reasoned objections to a shipment of waste for recovery if that shipment does not comply with the laws and regulations for protection of the environment, public order, public safety or health protection, is to be interpreted as meaning that a competent authority of dispatch may not raise an objection to a shipment of waste based on the fact that the planned recovery does not comply with those provisions.

(see para. 60, operative part 3)