WRITTEN QUESTION E-2129/03

by Karl-Heinz Florenz (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(26 June 2003)

Subject: European landfill directive

The 1999 European landfill directive (1999/31/EC(1)) was transposed into national law in the Federal Republic of Germany by, inter alia, the regulation on the environmentally compatible dumping of municipal waste and on biological waste treatment plants of 20 February 2001.

A key feature of both the directive and the regulation is the time limit imposed on the deposit of non-inert waste such as household waste, commercial waste similar to household waste, sewage sludge and other waste with a high amount of organic matter.

The technical guidelines for municipal waste in force in Germany and the regulation on dumping both provide for temporary authorisation up to 31 May 2005. The question of whether the final deadline of 31 May 2005 can be met has been the subject of intense debate ever since the regulations were adopted.

Doubts as to whether the German regulation on dumping is compatible with European law have led the Administrative Court in Koblenz to refer the matter to the European Court of Justice. The Court of Justice is to clarify, in the context of the dispute between the Eiterköpfe landfill association and the Land Rheinland-Pfalz, whether the regulation on dumping is compatible with the EU landfill directive on which it is based. What is the Commission's position on this question?

Experts in Germany have voiced doubts as to whether the ban on dumping the above categories of waste can be implemented from 1 June 2005 onwards. In this light, how does the Commission assess the statements made by representatives of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety to the effect that it is possible for non-inert waste to be dumped for up to three years after the final deadline of 31 May 2005 if the subsequent qualified treatment of the waste can be guaranteed?

(1) OJ L 182, 16.7.1999, p. 1.

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(7 August 2003)

In the preliminary ruling case C-6/03, Eiterköpfe, the following questions were referred to the Court of Justice:

- With its first question, the referring court wants to know whether Article 5(1) of Council Directive 1999/31/EC of 26 April 1999 on the landfill of waste (Landfill Directive) may be transposed into national law by means of measures laying down more stringent standards, differing from those set out in Article 5(2) of the Directive, in that municipal waste and waste that can be deposited in the same way as municipal waste may be landfilled only if the appropriate organic component of dry residue of the original substance classification criterion (expressed as combustion loss or total organic carbon (TOC)) is satisfied. With question (2a), the national court asks whether, in case of a positive answer to the first question, a national provision under which:

- firstly, the organic content of dry residue of the original substance in the case of municipal waste and waste that can be deposited in the same way as municipal waste must, by 1 June 2005, be no more than either 5 % by mass, expressed as combustion loss, or 3 % by mass, expressed as TOC;

- secondly, from 1 March 2001, waste subject to mechanical and biological treatment may be landfilled at existing sites until 15 July 2009 at the latest, or even beyond that date in certain cases, only if the organic content of dry residue of the original substance is no more than 18 % by mass, expressed as TOC, and the biodegradability of the dry residue of the original substance is no more than 5 mg/g, expressed as aerobic activity (AT4), or 20 l/kg, expressed as the gas formation rate in the fermentation test (GB21);

- complies with the reduction targets laid down in Article 5(2) of the Landfill Directive, having regard to the Community principle of proportionality.

- With question 2 (b), the national court wants to know whether, under the Community principle of proportionality, there is a wide or a narrow margin of discretion in assessing the impact of overlaying waste that has not been treated prior to landfill with waste that has been pre-treated by thermal or mechanical and biological processes. Moreover, the court asks whether the principle of proportionality permits hazards caused by waste pre-treated by mechanical processes alone to be offset by other safeguards.

According to the Commission, the questions have to be answered as follows:

- Article 5(1) and (2) of Directive 1999/31/EC on the landfill of waste have to be interpreted in a way as to allow a national provision, such as the German Regulation on the Environmentally Sound Deposit of Municipal Waste of 20 February 2001, to lay down limit values regarding the quantity of biodegradable municipal waste and waste that can be disposed as such destined for landfill, even if these limit values may only be achieved by means of mechanic-biological treatments or incineration, and if they lead to the fact that, depending on the type of waste concerned, no more biodegradable waste of the said category may be landfilled from 2001, or 2005, onwards.

- A national provision such as the one in question goes beyond the requirements of the Directive and is hence a stricter protection measure according to Article 176 of the EC Treaty. The Community principle of proportionality does not apply to such a measure.

The Commission is not aware of the possibility under German legislation to continue accepting waste that does not fulfil the acceptance criteria for a period of three years after 2005. If such a possibility were to be given, Germany would have to notify the Commission of this change and of the measures taken to ensure that the targets set in Article 5(2) of Council Directive 1999/31/EC, in particular the target for the year 2006, are achieved.