WRITTEN QUESTION E-0382/01 by Jeffrey Titford (EDD) to the Commission. Proposed directive on waste electrical and electronic equipment.
Date: 2001-02-15
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU environmental policy, business administration, economic consequence, electronic waste, environmental law, impact study, small and medium-sized enterprises, storage of waste, waste management

18.9.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 261 E/101

It should also be pointed out that the Decision to authorise aid for the year 2000 specifies that Germany
undertakes to adopt any general or specific measures necessary to comply with the obligations under the
said Decision. Should it emerge that certain measures taken by Ruhrkohle AG were producing a situation
other than that required under the terms of the Decision authorising the aid for the year 2000, Germany
would be required to ask for the amounts granted but not used in accordance with the Decision to be
repaid.

2.
On expiry of the ECSC Treaty and Decision No 3632/93/ECSC of 23 July 2002, most of the
Community coal industry would be likely to disappear in the very short term if no financial support was
given. If we want to guarantee the long-term availability of some Community coal mining capacity to
cover any unforeseen events which might affect the energy market, there can be no future for Community
coal unless there is a mechanism for intervention by the public authorities. This basic principle has been
included in the Green Paper on the security of energy supply adopted by the Commission on 29 Novem-
ber 2000 (3). An aid scheme would therefore make it possible to guarantee access to reserves by
maintaining a minimum amount of subsidised coal.

The Commission nevertheless believes that such a scheme must not under any circumstances deflect the
Member States from the need to rationalise the coal industry. The measures for restructuring and reduction
of activity started in the framework of the ECSC Treaty must be continued. Any future Community rules
for aid to the coal industry must therefore incorporate the principle of the degression of State aid.

(1) Decision not yet published.
(2) Commission Decision No 3632/93/ECSC of 28 December 1993 establishing Community rules for State aid to the

coal industry, OJ L 329, 30.12.1993.

(3) COM(2000) 769 final.

(2001/C 261 E/106)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0382/01

by Jeffrey Titford (EDD) to the Commission

(15 February 2001)

Subject: Proposed directive on waste electrical and electronic equipment

Why is the European Commission proceeding with a proposed Directive on waste electrical and electronic
equipment, which would require electrical retailers to offer consumers a free service to take back old
electrical products, when the proposed Directive would:

1.

force small and medium-sized businesses to use expensive floor space to store waste electrical
products,

2.

cause practical difficulties for customers transporting these products to retail outlets,

3.

4.

5.

cause health and safety problems for retail staff, who would be expected to handle all kinds of
dangerous, soiled, greasy or possibly contaminated equipment returned by the consumer,

cause huge additional expense to small and medium-sized businesses having to collect old products
whilst delivering new ones,

require small and medium-sized retailers to apply for a waste-management licence which could only
be obtained by sending staff on expensive courses,

C 261 E/102

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

18.9.2001

6.

expose small and medium-sized businesses to criminal penalties for selling electrical equipment
without a licence (cid:129) thus adding to the number of criminal offences generated by the European
Union (such as the British Government(cid:146)s recent attempt to make it a criminal offence to sell loose
goods to British consumers in Imperial weights and measures).

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

(6 April 2001)

Article 4 of the Commission Proposal for a Directive on waste electrical and electronic equipment
(WEEE) (1), establishes,
inter alia, that Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that
systems are set up so that final holders and distributors can return waste electrical and electronic
equipment from private households free of charge. To meet this obligation, Member States shall ensure
the availability and accessibility of the necessary collection facilities, taking into account the population
density. Member States shall ensure that distributors, when supplying a new product, offer to take back
free of charge similar waste electrical and electronic equipment from private households provided that the
equipment
take the
necessary measures to ensure that all waste electrical and electronic equipment collected in accordance
with this Article is transferred to authorised treatment facilities.

free (including radioactive and biological). Member States shall

is contaminant

The basic principle is that final holders and distributors are able to return electrical goods without having
to pay charges. In the Commission(cid:146)s view, this principle does not necessarily entail that end of life
electrical products have to be physically brought back to the retail outlets. On the contrary, the experience
in areas where management of such waste has already started shows that transport to the dismantling or
treatment sites is organised in such a way that no significant supplementary burden for retail outlets or for
the Commission with representatives of retailers(cid:146) organisations have
consumers arises. Contacts of
confirmed that in many cases the free take-back, as proposed by the Commission, is already part of the
service provided to the consumer.

Should additional expenses nevertheless arise, the Commission is convinced that such costs would have to
be borne for the benefit of the environment. In this context, the principle of the internalisation of costs
into product prices is one of the basic principles of sustainable development. As mentioned in the
explanatory memorandum of the proposals, it is clear from the pilot projects on WEEE that charging
consumers with disposal costs at the point of return would have negative repercussions on the collection
results. Furthermore, the proposal has been subject to a business impact assessment with special reference
to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Such an assessment, published by the Commission as
Annex II to the Explanatory Memorandum of the WEEE proposal, was carried out in consultation with the
relevant associations (including retailers) and did not show any significant negative effect on SMEs.

As regards the need to apply for a waste management licence, Council Directive 75/442/EEC of 15 July
1975 on waste (2)
(Article 12) does not require establishments which collect waste to be subject to
authorisation, but only be registered with the competent authorities. Any commercial establishment is, by
definition, already registered with the competent authorities. The proposal for a Directive on WEEE does
not change this situation.

The issue of possible criminal penalties is not presently regulated by Community legislation. However, in
view of the fact that there are still many cases of severe non-observance of Community environmental law,
the Commission has adopted a proposal for a directive on the protection of the environment through
criminal law (3). This will establish a minimum standard for elements of criminal offences in breach of
Community environment legislation.

(1) OJ C 365 E, 19.12.2000.
(2) OJ L 194, 25.7.1975.
(3) COM(2001) 139 final.