WRITTEN QUESTION E-2017/96 by Joan Colom i Naval (PSE) to the Commission (17 July 1996)

Subject: Transposition of the directive on packaging into national law

European Parliament and Council Directive 94/62/EC ((OJ L 365, 31.12.1994, p. 10. )) of 20 December 1994 on packaging and packaging waste should have been incorporated into national law by the Member States by 30 June 1996.

Can the Commission give details of how far the Member States have complied with this requirement and, if applicable, what measures it has taken to ensure full implementation?

Answer given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission (24 September 1996)

Article 22(1) of European Parliament and Council Directive 94/62/EC of 20 December 1994 on packaging and packaging waste requires the Member States to bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with the Directive before 30 June 1996 and to inform the Commission thereof immediately.

It should also be mentioned that Article 16 of the Directive requires the Member States, without prejudice to Directive 83/189/EEC, ((OJ L 109, 26.4.1983. )) to notify to the Commission the drafts of measures which they intend to adopt within the framework of the Directive, excluding fiscal measures, but including technical specifications linked to fiscal measures which encourage compliance with such technical specifications, in order to permit the Commission to examine them in the light of existing provisions following in each case the procedure under Directive 83/189/EEC.

Under that procedure, Member States are required to postpone the adoption of drafts notified by them for a three-month standstill period during which the Commission and the other Member States can react to the drafts in question and where appropriate deliver a detailed opinion obliging the Member State which made the notification to postpone the adoption of the drafts concerned for a further three-month period.

Member States have to communicate to the Commission the texts previously notified by them once they have been adopted. Clearly, they can only be adopted following expiry of the standstill period.

Consequently, pursuant to Article 16 of the Directive in conjunction with Article 22, any measure designed to implement the Directive has to be notified to the Commission in advance at the draft stage, and the final texts adopted are not be communicated until the notification procedure has been completed. However, national texts implementing the Directive which were adopted before the Directive entered into force are not, of course, subject to the prior notification requirement.

At the time of writing (26 August 1996), Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden have notified to the Commission draft measures implementing Directive 94/62/EEC in whole or in part. These drafts have been or are being examined in accordance with the Directive 83/189/EEC procedure. Denmark and Germany have communicated measures adopted before Directive 94/62/EC entered into force. Denmark and Portugal have transmitted to the Commission measures adopted after Directive 94/62/EC entered into force.

The Commission will take steps to ensure that the 15 Member States comply with their obligations under the Directive as soon as possible using all the means available to it to ensure compliance with Community law including where appropriate the procedure laid down in Article 169 of the EC Treaty.