WRITTEN QUESTION E-1446/02

by Geoffrey Van Orden (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(23 May 2002)

Subject: The infringement proceedings formally notified to the UK Government in October 2001 in respect of the issue of Certificates of Lawfulness of Existing Use

Whereas in 1992 the UK Parliament enacted the Planning and Compensation Act which purportedly altered the UK law relating to town and country planning and the environmental provisions previously reported to the Commission (in compliance with Art. 16 of the Waste Framework Directive):

Can the Commission say what steps it is taking:

1. to bring to a speedy conclusion the infringement proceedings formally notified to the UK Government in October 2001 in respect of the issue of Certificates of Lawfulness of Existing Use for the purposes of the town and country planning system and the protection of the environment where the use certified as lawful involves the uncontrolled transportation and deposit of waste?

2. to ensure that any damage to the environment in the UK caused by such uncontrolled transportation and deposit of waste that has been declared lawful by the UK Government since 1992 is remedied without delay?

3. with respect to the complaint made to the Commission on 21 November 2001 by Mr Martin Philcox, a citizen of the UK, that the UK had infringed Art. 234 of the Treaty by failing to ensure that where a question as to the interpretation of the EC Waste Framework Directive was raised before a UK court against whose decision there was no judicial remedy under UK law, that court failed to bring the matter before the Court of Justice?

4. to remind the UK of its strict obligation to report to the Commission all legislation enacted by the UK Parliament which purports to vary the legislative provisions previously reported to the Commission as implementing EC Directives?

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(26 June 2002)

1. The Honourable Member refers to ongoing infringement proceedings concerning a scrap yard which operated as a waste site for a number of years without planning permission or a waste management licence. Subsequently, the site was given deemed planning permission on the basis that it had been operating for over 10 years. The circumstances disclosed by the complainant raised more general issues concerning the United Kingdom process of automatically granting so called Lawful Development Certificates (LDCs) for such developments.

A Letter of Formal Notice was sent to the United Kingdom, outlining the Commission's concern that this process may circumvent, firstly, Articles 4,9 and 10 of Council Directive 75/442/EEC of 15 July 1975(1), on waste as amended by Council Directive 91/156/EEC of 18 March 1991(2), which require Member States to ensure that waste disposal and recovery operations are carried out with a valid permit, to meet the objectives set out in Article 4 thereof. Although, in England and Wales, the Environment Agency is the main waste permitting authority, local planning authorities also carry out part of the Waste Directive's obligations to ensure that a waste development does not cause nuisance/harm to local amenity. These issues may not properly be considered where LDCs have been granted. Secondly, LDCs may also circumvent Articles 2(1) and 4 of Council Directive 85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment(3), as amended by Council Directive 97/11/EC of 3 March 1997(4), by effectively giving development consent to projects without an environmental impact assessment or without considering the need for one.

The United Kingdom has recently responded to the Letter of Formal Notice and this response is now being assessed by the Commission. Any further course of action will depend on the on the outcome of that assessment.

2. Until the present infringement proceedings have been resolved, it is too early to predict what measures would be appropriate as a result of those proceedings. However, it should be noted that there are currently no specific Community provisions in force concerning environmental liability.

3. and 4. The final question concerns one of a number of matters recently drawn to the Commission's attention, which are currently being assessed in the context of a another complaint file. However, since that complaint raises similar issues to those already pending before the Court of Justice in Case C-99/00, another preliminary ruling case under Article 234 of the EC Treaty, the complainant has been advised that the Commission proposes to await the outcome of that case before completing its' assessment of the complaint.

(1) OJ L 194, 25.7.1975.

(2) OJ L 78, 26.3.1991.

(3) OJ L 175, 5.7.1985.

(4) OJ L 73, 14.3.1997.