WRITTEN QUESTION P-1281/00 by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. Export of waste to third countries/Basle Convention.
Date: 2000-04-12
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU statistics, UN convention, application of the law, competence of the Member States, developing countries, export of waste, hazardous waste, infringement of EU law

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Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(23 June 2000)

Council Decision 2000/228/EC of 13 March 2000 on guidelines for Member States(cid:146) employment policies
for the year 2000 (1) provides the policy framework for promoting lifelong learning in the context of the
employment strategy objectives, in particular guidelines 5 and 6 on improving employability and guideline
15 on modernising work organisation. Implementation of the guidelines is monitored in the context of the
Luxembourg process and assessment is carried out in the joint employment report by the Commission and
the Council.

Within this framework, the social partners are urged to conclude agreements to promote lifelong learning,
while Member States have responsibility for defining the legal and institutional conditions for facilitating
such activities in a partnership approach.
In the employment guidelines 2001 the lifelong learning
dimension will be strengthened and agreements between the social partners will be further encouraged.

In that respect, it is worth noting that at European level the intersectoral social partners have stepped up
their activities in the field of lifelong learning and the modernisation of work. The European trade union
confederation (ETUC), the Conseil europØen des entreprises publiques (CEEP) and the Union of industrial
and employer(cid:146)s confederations of Europe/European union of crafts and small and medium-sized enterprises
(UNICE/UAPME) are setting up a working group to identify ways to promote access to lifelong learning
and skills development, and are preparing a joint report on good practice in the areas of adaptability and
work organisation. The framework agreements on part time work (1997) and fixed term contracts (1999)
also include clauses on the promotion of access to training.

At sectoral level, many sectors joined forces to send a joint contribution to the Lisbon European Council
highlighting the need for training and skills development, and initiatives to promote lifelong learning are
being developed in several sectors, such as workshops on training and qualification needs; multi-skilling;
Europe-wide certification of skills, access to Information and communication technologies training.

Moreover, the Commission is preparing a communication on (cid:145)Lifelong learning for active citizenship in a
Europe of knowledge(cid:146) in which concrete actions on key themes on lifelong learning will be identified,
including the promotion of a partnership approach to investing in human resources and a flexible
organisation of work.

The Commission is also preparing a new social policy agenda and initiatives to promote lifelong learning
and the modernisation of work will be part of the agenda.

(1) OJ L 72, 21.3.2000.

(2001/C 46 E/187)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1281/00

by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(12 April 2000)

Subject: Export of waste to third countries/Basle Convention

Despite international conventions, there is an increase in exports of (toxic) waste to developing countries.
The Basle Convention and regulation 259/93/EEC (1) regulate these cross-border flows of waste. According
to UNEP, in 1989 the OECD countries exported one fifth of their waste. UN rapporteur Fatma-Zohra
Ksentini says the countries which export most are Australia, the US and EU Member States the Nether-
lands, Germany and Britain. She is particularly concerned at the growing tendency to ship toxic waste to
developing countries where it is simply dumped.

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How does the European Union ensure compliance with the Basle Convention and regulation 259/93/

1.
EEC, in particular:

(a) what service, and

(b) how many officials are involved,

(c) how many checks are carried out every year, and

(d) where?

2.
How much category 1 waste has the European Union exported to third countries since the Basle
Convention and regulation 259/93/EEC entered into force (broken down by year, exporting Member States
and countries of destination)?

3.
How much category 2 waste has the European Union exported to third countries since the Basle
Convention and regulation 259/93/EEC entered into force (broken down by year, exporting Member States
and countries of destination)?

How many infringements of the Basle Convention and Regulation 259/93/EEC have there been since

4.
they entered into force, in particular:

(a)

in which Member States,

(b)

to which third countries was the waste shipped,

(c) by which companies,

(d) what substances and quantities were involved (detailed breakdown of type and weight), and

(e) when (chronological breakdown of infringements)?

(1) OJ L 30, 6.2.1993, p. 1.

Answer given by Mrs Wallstr(cid:246)m on behalf of the Commission

(17 May 2000)

Council 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, transposes the obligations of the Community under the
Basel Convention. The Regulation prohibits the export of all wastes for disposal to destinations outside the
Community with the exception of European free trade area (EFTA) countries. Since 1 January 1998, the
export of hazardous wastes for recovery to non-Organisation for economic co-operation and development
(OECD) countries is also prohibited in the Community.

The export prohibitions pursuant to Community law are directly applicable. Their enforcement, including
checks of shipments, is up to the authorities designated by the Member States. The Commission as such
does not carry out any checks of individual shipments.

Member States are obliged on a yearly basis to report on the implementation of the Regulation, and every
three years the Commission establishes a summary report on implementation of the Regulation by
Member States. The first report was adopted in July 1998, covering the years 1994-1996 (1). For this, a
number of Member States also submitted extensive documentation regarding data on waste exports and
this is sent direct to the Honourable Member and to Parliament(cid:146)s Secretariat.

Overall, the European environment agency in (cid:145)Environment in the European Union at the turn of the
century(cid:146) indicates that according the reports by the Member States and Norway to the Basel Convention
and the Commission, very little hazardous waste was exported to non-OECD countries (5 802 tonnes out
of a total of 1,47 million tonnes, corresponding to 0,4 %). It should be noted that all country reports on
which these figures are based, pre-date the entry into force, on 1 January 1998, of the export ban of

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hazardous waste for recovery to non-OECD countries. As noted above, from 1 January 1998, no exports
of hazardous wastes to non-OECD countries may occur from the Community.

As for information on illegal shipments, the Commission concluded in its first three-year report on the
implementation of Regulation (EEC) No 259/93 that a whole series of obligations under the Regulation
were not referred to in the questionnaire which served as a basis for the Member States(cid:146) yearly reports.
Therefore, a new additional questionnaire has in the meantime been adopted (Commission Decision 1999/
412 of 3 June 1999 concerning a questionnaire for the reporting obligation of Member States pursuant to
Article 41(2) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 259/93 (2)). This obliges Member States also to report on
cases of illegal traffic of waste. The information requested in the additional questionnaire will have to be
provided for the first time for the reporting period of the calendar year 2000.

(1) Communication from the Commission to the Council and the Parliament concerning the implementation of
Regulation (EEC) No 259/93 on the supervision and control of shipments of waste within, into and out of the
Community, COM(1998) 475 final.

(2) OJ L 156, 23.6.1999.

(2001/C 46 E/188)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1284/00

by Gerhard Hager (NI) to the Commission

(19 April 2000)

Subject: Rescue flight contracts with the main association of Austrian social insurance institutions

Further to my Question No E-0137/00 (1) I wish to submit specific supplementary information. As my
research has shown, the problem arises in connection with the closed settlement contracts concluded in
Austria between the Federal Ministry for Internal Affairs and a private-sector association on the one hand
and the main association of Austrian social
insurance institutions on the other, not just from the
inadequate tendering procedure for those contracts. The problem arises more from the fact that direct
settlement between the above bodies has, since 31 March 1995, been concluded without any contractual
basis, whereas the option of direct settlement by other suppliers of such services is rejected by the main
association of Austrian social insurance institutions. It is against that background that I wish to ask the
Commission the following supplementary question:

Does the circumstance that direct settlements between the main association of Austrian social insurance
institutions and the said rescue flight undertakings are concluded without any contractual basis not raise
doubts in the Commission whether these arrangements are compatible with the provisions of Directive 92/
50/EEC (2) of 18 June 1992?

(1) OJ C 280 E, 3.10.2000, p. 183.
(2) OJ L 209, 24.7.1992, p. 1.

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(15 June 2000)

The Commission would refer the Honourable Member to its answer to his Question No E-0137/00, which
also dealt with rescue flight contracts with the main association of Austrian social insurance institutions.

The Commission will be in a position to answer the question raised by the Honourable Member once it
has received the information it is awaiting from the Austrian authorities. The conclusion of a contract does
not, of course, preclude the possibility of an infringement of Council Directive 92/50/EEC of 18 June 1992
relating to the coordination of procedures for the award of public service contracts.