WRITTEN QUESTION P-3660/01 by Avril Doyle (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Waste Management Regulation — Ireland (Environmental Levy).
Date: 2002-01-09
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Ireland, approximation of laws, biodegradability, environmental law, environmental policy, environmental tax, packaging, regulation, waste management

C 160 E/160

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

4.7.2002

Reply

(25/26 March 2002)

The Honourable Member will certainly understand that it is not for the Council to comment on allegations
in the press concerning the intention of a Government to support sea transport and the shipbuilding
industry.

In any case, the Honourable Member will not be unaware that any national measures likely to cause
distortion of competition are systematically analysed by the Commission’s specialised departments and that
it therefore falls to that Institution to assess the situation and take the necessary steps, where appropriate,
to deal with any unfair practices.

(2002/C 160 E/201)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-3660/01

by Avril Doyle (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(9 January 2002)

Subject: Waste Management Regulation * Ireland (Environmental Levy)

Could the Commission please comment on whether it finds the Irish Draft Waste Management regulations
acceptable. If adopted in their current form they would have the net effect of restricting the imports of
biodegradable packaging and would contravene Directive 94/62/EC (1) and Articles 28 and 30 of the EC
Treaty.

This assessment is based on the requirements contained in the Directive and the EC Treaty as interpreted
by the European Commission and recently confirmed in the opinion of the Advocate General Mr Damaso
Ruiz-Jarabo Colomer in C-246/99 Commission v Denmark.

The draft regulations as they stand do not draw any destination between biodegradable and non-
biodegradable packaging, specifically in relation to the imposition of a flat levy on both, and this policy if
adopted would have the effect of imposing a burden on biodegradable plastic bags which must contradict
the aim of the regulation viz. to reduce waste.

(1) OJ L 365, 31.12.1994, p. 10.

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(30 January 2002)

The Irish Draft Waste Management (Environmental Levy) (Plastic Bags) Regulations were notified to the
Commission in September 2001 under the auspices of Directive 94/62/EC (1) and Directive 98/34/EC (2).
The draft regulations propose, as a means of reducing the generation of waste arising from plastic bag
consumption, a tax of 15 cent (c) be levied on certain types of plastic bags at point of sale. A number of
bags are to be exempted from the proposed tax, including those plastic bags designed for reuse, used to
contain goods and which are sold for a sum not less than 70c.

The Commission completed the assessment of the draft fiscal measure in November 2001. On current
information and analysis, the Commission has not found any reason to conclude that the provisions of the
Draft Regulations contravene Community law, specifically either Directive 94/62/EC or Article 90
(ex Article 95) of the EC Treaty. Article 4 of the Directive requires Member States to undertake measures
designed to prevent the formation of packaging waste. Article 15 of the Directive enables Member States to
adopt economic instruments in accordance with principles governing the Community environmental
policy to implement
the Directive, which include aiming to prevent and reduce
environmental impact arising through packaging and packaging waste. Given that the proposed measure is

the objectives of

4.7.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 160 E/161

a fiscal and not a quantitative-type measure, Articles 28-30 (ex Article 30-36) of the EC Treaty are not
relevant for the purpose of examining its compatibility with Community law.

(1) Parliament and Council Directive 94/62/EC of 20 December 1994 on packaging and packaging waste, OJ L 365,

31.12.1994.

(2) Parliament and Council Directive 98/34/EC of 22 June 1998 laying down a procedure for the provision of

information in the field of technical standards and regulations, OJ L 204, 21.7.1998.

(2002/C 160 E/202)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3688/01

by Laura González Álvarez (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(17 January 2002)

Subject: Accident at steelworks in Alcalá de Guadaira (Seville, Spain)

On 7 December 2001 a radioactive leak occurred at the steelworks in Alcalá de Guadaira (Seville province,
Spain), releasing radioactive matter from a sealed capsule which had been introduced by error into the
smelting process. This happened after the signing by the metallurgical companies, several ministries, the
national Nuclear Safety Council and Enresa (the company responsible for handling radioactive waste) of a
protocol in which they undertook to act to prevent such occurrences. A leak occurred in 1998 at a nearby
steelworks which spread radioactive matter whose traces were detected even outside Spain.

Has the Commission been informed of this occurrence? Does it have information on the amount of
radioactive matter contained in the capsule and the amount released into the environment? Does it know
whether radiological damage was suffered by the workers, the public in general or the environment? What
is the Commission’s position concerning the protocol signed in Spain and its effectiveness?

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(1 March 2002)

The Commission has not been officially informed by the Spanish authorities about the accidental melting
of a radioactive source at the steelworks in Alcalá de Guadaira.

However, Council Decision 87/600/Euratom of 14 December 1987 on Community arrangements for the
early exchange of information in the event of a radiological emergency (1) obliges the Member States to
notify and inform the Commission, inter alia, only where ‘a Member State decides to take measures of a
widespread nature in order to protect the general public in case of a radiological emergency’. This situation
did not occur in the case of that accident.

With regard to the cooperation Protocol between the Spanish authorities and the industrial associations
concerned, the Commission believes this type of instrument is very useful to help avoid such an accident
and to define the measures to be taken by the various parties concerned if a radioactive source is detected
or in the event of an accident.

Given the possible consequences of this type of accident on the health of workers and the importance of
prevention, the Commission is in the process of finalising a draft proposal for a directive aimed at ensuring
adequate monitoring of radioactive sources by users and national authorities.

(1) OJ L 371, 30.12.1987.