EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 78/298

(2004/C 78 E/0300)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3545/03

by Alexander de Roo (Verts/ALE), Karl-Heinz Florenz (PPE-DE) and Chris Davies (ELDR) to the Commission

(28 November 2003)

Subject: Transposition of the directive on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) in France

France is the first EU country that has prepared an ‘official’ draft of the WEEE transposition. An English translation has been provided by the Ministry of Ecology and Sustainable Development. The intention is to have a final text in December.

Unfortunately this draft deviates from the WEEE Directive (2002/96/EC (1)) in many aspects, most notably on the individual producer responsibility for future products. Instead a collective responsibility is proposed.

Please compare the WEEE directive Article 8.2: ‘For products put on the market later than 13 August 2005, each producer shall be responsible for financing the operations referred to in paragraph 1 relating to the waste from his own products’with this wording of Article 15 of the French draft decree: ‘The producers having put the household electric and electronic equipments on the market during the current year assure the financing of the obligations which fall to them the same year in conformance with Articles 21-25 of the present decree for the household electric and electronic equipments. These obligations are distributed between the producers by type of equipments such as listed in the order mentioned in the 1 st article, in proportion to the household electric and electronic equipments launched on the market during the current year.’ This is a very similar formulation as for historical waste in the WEEE directive (Article 8.3).

The French draft gives companies the possibility of setting up their own recycling operations, but a possibility for a certain recycling set-up is NOT a legal producer responsibility. Apart from the drawbacks of collective responsibility, a situation would occur where companies would not have to make reservations and guarantees for products sold in France, but would need to make reservations and give guarantees for products sold in other countries (e.g. Germany) where an individual producer responsibility has been introduced according to the directive. This would distort the common market. Another major deviation is a requirement for a mandatory fixed visible fee (Article 16), whereas the WEEE directive (Article 8.3) says it should be possible for producers to decide if they want to show the cost.

Is the European Commission prepared to point out to the French Government that they are on the wrong track?

Is the Commission aware that there is a significant risk that other Member States will be tempted to follow the French example?

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(13 January 2004)

Pursuant to Article 17 of Directive 2002/96/EC (2) Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with the directive by 14 August 2004. They shall immediately inform the Commission thereof.

Since France has not yet notified the Commission of any national measures transposing this Directive, the Commission is presently not in a position to evaluate them.

With a view to ensuring the correct application of the Directive the Commission regularly discusses implementation issues with Member States in the framework of the Committee referred to in Article 7 of the Directive. In case of incorrect implementation of the Directive, the Commission will, of course, address this with the Member State concerned, in line with the powers conferred to it by the EC Treaty.

(1) OJ L 37, 13.2.2003, p. 24.

(2) Directive 2002/96/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 27 January 2003 on waste electrical and electronic equipment, OJ L 37, 13.2.2003.