WRITTEN QUESTION E-1992/99

by Paul Rübig (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(9 November 1999)

Subject: Draft directive on electronic scrap equipment

- Given the considerable durability of electrical appliances (5-20 years) the costs of disposal for the dealer are scarcely assessable and hence extremely difficult to calculate.

- This gives the consumer all the more incentive to purchase electrical appliances in a non-Member country in order to evade the take-back surcharge at the time of purchase. Such appliances on take-back are indistinguishable from the others and must therefore be taken back without compensation.

- The obligation to report on the situation with regard to disposal or sale creates extra administrative expense in respect of which no allowance is made.

- Are official importers discriminated against vis-à-vis parallel importers in consequence of the obligation to create a disposal system?

In the Commission's view are these doubts on the part of European wholesalers justified and what assistance if any can the industry expect from the Commission?

Answer given by Mr Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(21 December 1999)

Currently the Commission is preparing legislation concerning the management of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). At this stage the Commission is discussing the main points of this draft legislation, including the respective responsibilities of manufacturers, importers and other distributors. As a general point, it has to be mentioned that distributors are considered to be producers in the sense of the draft proposal only if they professionally import electrical or electronic equipment into a Member State.

The Commission would make some observations on the particular concerns raised by the Honourable Member. It is true that some uncertainties exist as regards future prices for recycling and disposal of electrical and electronic products. However, research on the possible price evolution of these operations indicates that by and large producers could calculate with today's prices when building reserves for the future management of WEEE.

Research also indicates that a disposal fee on the product price would be at such a level that a major shift of consumer habits as regards the purchase of products could not be expected. This assumption takes potential benefits of proximity purchases for the consumer into account. Therefore, purchases by consumers in other Member States induced by disposal fees will be minimal. In this context, it should be mentioned that similar concerns have been voiced as regards an alternative financing system for WEEE, where consumers are charged when disposing of their equipment. Also in these cases consumers might tend to transport end-of-life equipment to third countries for disposal to save the disposal fee or even to dispose of it privately in a way which was not environmentally sound.

Potential advantages for parallel importers of equipment from outside the Community over registered importers or producers constitute problems with regard to the application of the producer responsibility principle and other product related legislation. This issue is one of the points which is currently being discussed within the Commission in the context of the WEEE initiative.

One of the problems of European waste management policy is the lack of precise data on quantities of waste generated, recovered and disposed of. These figures are not only crucial in drafting but also in implementing legislation. Clearly, data on these elements have to be delivered by those who are in charge of the respective operations. To what extent producers will have to contribute to these tasks remains to be discussed.