WRITTEN QUESTION No. 113/98 by Susan WADDINGTON to the Commission. Driving Licence Directive 91/439/EEC
Date: 1998-01-30
Institutions: European Parliament, WADDINGTON
Subjects: United Kingdom, accident prevention, diabetes, driving licence, national implementing measure, road safety, therapeutics

9. 10. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 310/23

If  the  holder  discards  or  has  the  intention  to  discard  the  worn  clothing  the  definition  of  waste  applies.
The destination of the clothes, for example whether the clothes are collected separately, taken to a charity shop or
put together with the household waste is irrelevant in this respect.

It is however not excluded that worn clothing which the holder has discarded can lose the qualification of being a
(cid:145)waste(cid:146) and can be considered as a product again. To this end, an adequate treatment, following the (separate)
collection but preceding a possible export, could take place in the form of sorting, cleaning, reparation etc.

Discussions  in  the  framework  of  the  Organisation  for  economic  co-operation  and  development  (OECD)
concerning the definition of waste currently aim to establish a number of criteria which must give an indication
whether in a given case an object is a waste or not, and also when a waste could be considered a product again.
On the basis of the final results of this discussion, which are due for April 1998, the Commission will examine
whether there is a need to take up the debate on the Community definition of waste, and in particular concerning
possible amendments which should lead to a better application of the definition.

The  current  situation  with  regard  to  exports  of  non-hazardous  waste,  including  worn  clothing,  to  developing
countries is that these can take place as normal commercial transactions, without specific control, as foreseen in
Article 1.3(a) of Regulation (EEC) No 259/93 of 1 February 1993 on the supervision and control of shipments of
waste within, into and out of the Community (2).

However,  Article  17  of  Regulation  (EEC)  No  259/93  provides  that  the  Commission  consults  all  non-OECD
countries whether they want to be able to import waste listed in Annex II of this Regulation (the so-called green
list) without control or whether they prefer that one of the control procedures of the Regulation be applied to such
exports out of the Community.

On  the  basis  of  the  answers  to  this  consultation  the  Commission  has  made  proposals  for  legislation  to
accommodate the answers of the third countries. However, several countries have answered that they did not
wish  to  receive  any  such  waste  for  recovery,  and  also  a  large  number  of  countries  did  not  reply  to  the
consultation.

Taking into account the precautionary principle, the Commission proposal for a Council regulation concerning
this group of countries foresees to apply the control procedure which normally applies to export of waste listed in
Annex  IV.  In  its  opinion  on  the  proposal,  the  Parliament  asked  for  a  prohibition  of  exports  of  waste  to  the
countries  which  asked  for  such  a  prohibition  as  well  as  to  countries  which  did  not  react  to  the  consultation.
The Commission  has  taken  the  amendments  of  the  Parliament  on  board  as  far  as  the  countries  requesting  an
export prohibition are concerned. However as regards the countries which did not take position, the Commission
is of the opinion that the control procedure foreseen in the proposal is sufficient. The Council of December 1997
came to a common position along the same lines.

The future situation concerning the export of worn clothing to developing countries will therefore depend on, in
the first instance, the answer of the country in question to the consultation of the Commission, and in second
instance on the final position which the Parliament and the Council will take as regards the proposal in question.
Of course a third country can at any time change its position, in general or with regard to specific categories of
waste,  pursuant  to  which  the  Commission  can  then  propose  new  measures  to  accommodate  the  modified
position.

(1)  OJ L 78, 26.3.1991.
(2)  OJ L 30, 6.2.1993.

(98/C 310/25)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0113/98

by Susan Waddington (PSE) to the Commission

(30 January 1998)

Subject: Driving Licence Directive 91/439/EEC

Following the modification of Directive 91/439/EEC (1) people suffering from certain medical conditions, such
as diabetes, are restricted to driving vehicles below 3.5 tonnes. Is a person with type 1 diabetes banned from
driving a vehicle, such as a minibus, which weighs over 3.5 tonnes or do they have to seek a medical certificate
stating that they are fit to drive?

(1)  OJ L 237, 24.8.1991, p. 1.