WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3061/97 by Amedeo AMADEO to the Commission. Emissions of organic compounds
Date: 1997-10-02
Institutions: AMADEO, European Parliament
Subjects: EC Directive, EU law - national law, application of EU law, chemical pollution, industrial pollution, national implementing measure, organic chemical, pollution control, pollution control measures, principle of subsidiarity













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91997E3061

WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3061/97 by Amedeo AMADEO to the Commission. Emissions of organic compounds  


Official Journal C 117 , 16/04/1998 P. 0144 





WRITTEN QUESTION E-3061/97 by Amedeo Amadeo (NI) to the Commission (2 October 1997)Subject: Emissions of organic compoundsThe proposal for a Council directive on limitation of emissions of volatile organic compounds due to the use of organic solvents in certain industrial activities (COM(96) 538 final - 96/0276 SYN) ((OJ C 99, 26.3.1997, p. 32. )) fully respects the principle of subsidiarity and sets the objective of reducing VOC emissions to levels that are technically and economically feasible in each sector.Will the Commission ensure that the directive is correctly transposed into the laws of all the Member States and will it simplify the criteria for monitoring compliance with the directive given its highly technical nature and complexity?Answer given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission (31 October 1997)The provisions of the proposal for a Directive mentioned by the Honourable Member on the reduction of emissions of volatile organic compounds caused by the use of organic solvents in certain industrial activities is fully covered by the principle of subsidiarity. More particularly Member States have the option of meeting the requirements of the Directive either by applying the emission limit values provided for each sector of industry covered by the Directive or by preparing and implementing a national reduction programme enabling the same results to be achieved by other means. The flexibility offered by these national plans enables the necessary emission reductions to be tailored to the industrial profile of each Member State and thus to optimise the cost-effectiveness of the legislation. Conversely, if the content and the means of applying such plans are left to the judgment of each Member State, the final aim of reducing emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is binding. Failure to comply would be equivalent to an infringement on the same basis as failure to implement any other provision of any other Community Regulation.As required by the EC Treaty the Commission will ensure that the provisions of this Regulation are properly transposed into the national law of each Member State. The Commission would also like to draw the Honourable Member's attention to the legal basis for the proposal (Article 130 s of the EC Treaty) which enables the Member States to adopt enhanced protective measures that are more stringent than those provided for in the Directive.When the proposal for a Directive referred to above was being written the Commission, which was well aware of the relatively technical nature of its wording, had already taken steps to simplify this in order to make it easier to read and understand.