WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1884/97 by Amedeo AMADEO to the Commission. Waste management
Date: 1997-06-02
Institutions: AMADEO, European Parliament
Subjects: EU Member State, European Commission, action for failure to fulfil an obligation, application of EU law, competence of the Member States, environmental policy, infringement procedure (EU), national implementing measure, waste management

22. 1. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 21/109

In his closing address at the conference on the future of the social dialogue held on 28-29 April 1997, the Member
of the Commission responsible for social affairs reiterated the importance of the sectoral social dialogue and
confirmed the Commission’s desire to support it.

Some  20  sectors  have  developed  Community-level  dialogue,  through  joint  committees  or  informal  working
parties. They receive substantial financial and logistical support from the Commission, which organises around
150 sectoral social dialogue meetings each year. Furthermore, budget heading B3-4000 includes an amount of
ECU 5 million for 1997 for funding measures to promote the development of the social dialogue at both sectoral
and cross-industrial level.

In its Communication concerning the development of the social dialogue at Community level, the Commission
refers  to  the  need  to  seek  ways  of  improving  the  operation  and  results  of  the  sectoral  social  dialogue  whilst
promoting the more efficient use of resources.

Consequently, the Commission suggests that the sectoral social dialogue should focus on strategic sectors and
issues, with the strengthening of cooperation and coordination within the Commission in respect of consultation
procedures. These various aspects will be the subject of the second Communication on the development of the
social dialogue at Community level.

(98/C 21/218)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1884/97

by Amedeo Amadeo (NI) to the Commission

(2 June 1997)

Subject: Waste management

With  reference  to  the  Commission(cid:146)s  (cid:145)Communication  on  the  review  of  the  Community  Strategy  for  Waste
Management(cid:146) and the (cid:145)draft Council Resolution on waste policy(cid:146) (COM(96) 0399 final),

will  the  Commission  make  a  greater  commitment  to  developing  more  incisive  and  effective  measures  for
monitoring and verifying the Member States(cid:146) progress in implementing Community legislation by launching
specific programmes for investigations and studies where necessary?

Answer given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission

(4 July 1997)

The  Commission  shares  the  Honourable  Member’s  view  on  the  importance  of  monitoring  and  verifying  the
Member States’ progress in implementing Community waste legislation.

On 22 October 1996 the Commission adopted a communication on implementing Community environmental
law (1),  the  aim  of  which  was  to  reinforce  the  obligations  which  different  actors  in  the  regulatory  chain  (the
Commission, Member States, regional and local authorities, industry, citizens and non-governmental organisa-
tions) bear in the (cid:145)shared responsibility’ for the application of Community environmental law, in order to increase
the effectiveness and efficiency of environmental policy and law and improve the quality of the environment in
Europe.

Proper application of Community waste legislation depends largely on the national, regional and local authorities
taking  a  range  of  measures  to  deal  with  the  many  applications  for  authorisation,  to  grant  authorisation  in
accordance  with  statutory  conditions,  to  encourage  economic  operators  to  comply  with  the  conditions  of
authorisation and to adopt the necessary corrections or penalties.

Most  problems  in  the  waste  sector  relate  to  Member  States’  failure  to  apply  measures.  Accordingly,  the
Commission has instituted, or is about to institute, many infringement proceedings to ensure the legislation is
complied with.

(1)  COM (96) 500.