WRITTEN QUESTION E-0232/03 by Eluned Morgan (PSE) to the Commission. End-of-Life Vehicles Directive.
Date: 2003-02-04
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EC Directive, application of EU law, metal waste, waste management

C 280 E/44

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

21.11.2003

(2003/C 280 E/044)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0232/03

by Eluned Morgan (PSE) to the Commission

(4 February 2003)

Subject: End-of-Life Vehicles Directive

Is the Commission aware of the problems Member States are experiencing in disposing of the ever-
increasing numbers of cars being dumped as a result of the End-of-Life Vehicles Directive? What is the
Commission doing to ease the financial and practical burden of disposing of these vehicles that has fallen
upon ordinary farmers as a result of the legislation?

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(6 March 2003)

There is no evidence to suggest that Directive 2000/53/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of
18 September 2000 on end-of life vehicles (1) (ELVs) is responsible for an increase in the number of cars
being dumped. On the contrary, the Directive contains provisions which are specifically intended to
combat the illegal dumping of ELVs. In particular, the Directive specifies that, from 21 April 2002,
vehicles may only be deregistered following the presentation of a certificate of destruction, which may only
be issued by licensed treatment centres. Moreover, the problem of dumped cars existed before the entry
into force of this Directive. For example, the United Kingdom’s (UK) Department of Trade and Industry
(DTI) estimates that up to 350 000 vehicles were abandoned in the UK in 2000.

The ELV Directive specifically requires Member States to establish systems to finance the collection and
treatment of ELVs. The Directive establishes the principle that the last owner should be able to dispose of
an ELV free of charge, while requiring that manufacturers meet all or a significant part of the cost of
implementing this measure. This applies from 1 July 2002 for vehicles put on the market after this date.
For vehicles placed on the market before this date, the Directive requires that manufacturers meet this cost
from 1 January 2007. The Directive does not specify how it should be met until 31 December 2006.

It is therefore the responsibility of Member States to implement the most appropriate system to finance the
collection of ELVs in the intervening period, including measures to ensure that farmers are not negatively
affected.

Legislation providing for free take-back systems for old cars is already in place, for example, in Germany,
the Netherlands, Austria and Sweden.

(1) OJ L 269, 21.10.2000.

(2003/C 280 E/045)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0236/03

by Isidoro Sánchez García (ELDR) to the Commission

(4 February 2003)

Subject: Treatment of the outermost regions of the European Union under the mid-term reform of the CAP

The Commission has put forward a proposal originating from the Berlin European Council to implement a
mid-term reform of the CAP that will amount to a minor agrarian revolution in the medium term and will
impact on the various regions of the European Union.

Moreover, the agricultural POSEI programmes for the outermost regions of the European Union have
recently been the subject of a review. In the light of the Commission’s development strategy for these
regions, and of Article 299(2) of the EC Treaty, which lays down that specific measures shall be adopted
when implementing Community provisions in those regions, precisely in the context of the CAP, will the
Commission apply special treatment to the outermost regions when implementing the CAP reforms and if
so, what measures will it adopt?