WRITTEN QUESTION P-0891/02 by Emmanouil Bakopoulos (GUE/NGL) to the Council. Regular meetings between Mr Prodi and Mr Schröder.
Date: 2002-03-27
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: European Commission, Germany, President of the Commission, head of State, summit meeting

C 229 E/156

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

26.9.2002

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(14 May 2002)

Article 1(a) of Council Directive 75/442/EEC on waste, as amended (1) defines waste as essentially meaning
any substance or object which the holder discards or intends or is required to discard. The definition has
been interpreted by the Court of Justice so as to mean that, following the environmental protection
principles enshrined in Article 174(2) of the EC Treaty, the concept of waste may not be interpreted
restrictively (2). In relation to ferrochromium scrap referred to by the Honourable Member, a request for a
preliminary ruling is currently pending before the Court that may lead to further clarification on the status
of scrap metal materials in relation to the Directive (3).

The Sixth Environmental Action Programme of the Community calls for clarification of the legislative
distinction between waste and non-waste (4). Within the context of the Programme, the Commission will
take steps to undertake a review on how best to achieve this task.

(1) OJ L 194, 25.7.1975, as amended by Council Directive 91/156/EEC of 18 March 1991 (OJ L 78, 26.3.1991) and

Commission Decision 96/350/EC of 24 May 1996 (OJ L 135, 6.6.1996).

(2) Cases C-418/97 and C-419/97 ARCO Chemie Nederland and Epon [2000] ECR I-4475, at paragraphs 39-40 of

judgment.

(3) Case C-444/00 The Queen on the application of Mayer Parry Recycling Ltd.
(4) Article 8(2)(iv) of draft Decision of
the Council

the Parliament and of

Environmental Action Programme (PE-CONS 3618/02).

laying down the Sixth Community

(2002/C 229 E/180)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0891/02

by Emmanouil Bakopoulos (GUE/NGL) to the Council

Subject: Regular meetings between Mr Prodi and Mr Schröder

(27 March 2002)

Following the meeting between the Commission President, Mr Prodi, and the German Chancellor,
Mr Schröder, in Barcelona, it was decided that the Commission and the German Government would meet
regularly prior to each summit. It is reported that the first such encounter will take place in Berlin before
the next summit.

Will this be followed by similar meetings with leaders of other countries or will this initiative be restricted
to Germany and possibly other larger countries?

Reply

(27 June 2002)

The Council would ask the Honourable Member to put his question directly to the Commission.

(2002/C 229 E/181)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0897/02

by Stavros Xarchakos (PPE-DE) to the Commission

Subject: Pupils dropping out of compulsory education

(5 April 2002)

According to Greek press reports, 150 000 children have abandoned their lower secondary school
education in recent years in Greece, while 10 000 children drop out of compulsory education annually.
These findings regarding school drop-out rates came from the Greek Educational Institute’s ‘Registry of
Lower Secondary School Pupils entering the Employment Market’. According to these findings, the largest