Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the 'Proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) establishing common rules and procedures to apply to shipments to certain non-OECD countries of certain types of waste'
Date: 1998-04-29
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: environmental law, export of waste, export restriction, waste recycling

C 214/74

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Official Journal of the European Communities

10.7.98

be prior consultation of the various socio-economic
partners and interests involved.

It is noted that none of the newly classified c/m/r

3.4.
substances are sold to the general public.

Brussels, 29 April 1998.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Tom JENKINS

Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the ‘Proposal for a Council Regulation
(EC) establishing common rules and procedures to apply to shipments to certain non-OECD
countries of certain types of waste’

(98/C 214/21)

On 31 March 1998 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, in
accordance with Article 130s of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the
above-mentioned proposal.

At its 354th plenary session (meeting of 29 April 1998), the Economic and Social Committee
appointed Mr Gafo Ferna´ndez as rapporteur-general and adopted the following opinion by
74 votes, with one abstention.

1.

Introduction

1.1.
This proposal dates back to 1994 and the referral
to the ESC stems from the broadening of the legal basis
initially proposed by the European Commission to
include both Article 130s and Article 113 (the original
legal basis for the regulation).

The time which has elapsed since the draft
1.2.
regulation was originally submitted bears witness to
difficulties in adopting the proposal, but it also means
that the circumstances justifying the submission of the
proposal have changed substantially.

1.3.
The Economic and Social Committee has already
issued an opinion (1) on another draft regulation, Regu-
lation No 259/93, which sought to prepare a common
position on amending the Basel Convention in relation
to the blanket ban on exports of ‘amber’ and ‘red’ list
waste to non-OECD (2) countries. The comments made
by the ESC at the time, particularly in relation to

the need to distinguish between non-dangerous and
dangerous waste and the need to authorize the restricted
export of ‘green’ list waste for recycling, are still valid.

1.4.
Consequently, the ESC will simply comment on
those aspects of the current regulation not covered by
Council Regulation 259/93.

2. General comments

regulations

in the future,

2.1.
Leaving aside the legal nature of the discussion
on the appropriate legal basis for the regulation and
the Committee
similar
acknowledges that Article 113 is the main legal basis,
although it takes the view that Article 130s should also
be included This would highlight the environmental
dimension, the main reason for the proposal, which is
designed to counterbalance the strictly commercial
aspects of waste shipment. Using Article 113 would
also enable other Community institutions such as the
European Parliament and the ESC itself to contribute to
the discussion, improvement and final adoption of the
proposal.

(1) OJ C 18, 22.1.1996.
(2) Organization for Economic Cooperation and Develop-

ment.

2.2.
The Committee considers that it is up to countries
asked to receive shipments of ‘green’ list waste for
recycling and upgrading to decide whether or not they

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 214/75

will explicitly accept or refuse such shipments. Failure
to respond to a request cannot and should not under
any circumstances be interpreted as tacit agreement to
receive shipments.

2.3.
Consequently, the Committee considers it neces-
sary that the customs authorities of a Member State
should, before authorizing the export of ‘green’ list
waste, check that the customs and environmental au-
thorities of the receiving country have given formal
consent to the shipment. They should also be satisfied
that the applicant Community exporting country has

properly checked and proven that the receiving plant in
the country of destination has the facilities to process,
recycle and upgrade the exported waste. This should
possibly be endorsed by the authorities of the country
of destination before final authorization is given.

2.4.
Lastly, the Committee wishes to echo a request
made by the European Parliament that certain types of
waste, textile waste in particular, which have been
appropriately processed and packaged, should no longer
be considered as waste and should be transferred to the
general regime governing the free movement of goods.

Brussels, 29 April 1998.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Tom JENKINS

Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on ‘Tacis — Technical Assistance to the
Commonwealth of Independent States and Mongolia’

(98/C 214/22)

At its plenary session on 10 July 1997 the Economic and Social Committee decided to draw
up an opinion on ‘Tacis — Technical Assistance to the Commonwealth of Independent States
and Mongolia’.

At its plenary session on 29-30 October 1997 the Committee, acting under Rule 23(3) of its
Rules of Procedure, decided to draw up an opinion instead of an information report.

The Section for External Relations, Trade and Development Policy, which was responsible
for preparing the Committee’s work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 15 April 1998. The
rapporteur was Mr Hamro-Drotz.

At its 354th plenary session (meeting of 29 April 1998), the Economic and Social Committee
adopted the following opinion by 90 votes to one, with one abstention.

1.

Introduction

‘Tacis’ stands for ‘Technical Assistance to the Common-
wealth of Independent States’ and it is the EU’s pro-
gramme for technical assistance to the New Independent
States (NIS) of eastern and south-eastern Europe and
Mongolia.

The twelve NIS are the Russian Federation, Ukraine,
Kazakhstan, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia,
Armenia, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and
Tajikistan. Mongolia has been included in the pro-
gramme since 1993. The three Baltic States were included
in 1991 but since 1992 they have been covered by the
Phare programme.

European integration occupies a central position in the
work of the ESC and the Committee has previously
issued opinions and reports on the EU’s relations with
Russia and the other NIS. These have been taken into
account in the present opinion without referring directly
to them.

Key facts and figures on the Tacis programme and the
current situation are presented in Appendix A.

2. Conclusions

In the course of drawing up this opinion, the Economic
and Social Committee wrote to interested parties in the