Proposal for a COUNCIL DECISION on the position to be taken on behalf of the European Union at the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal with regard to certain amendments of Articles in that Convention.
Date: 2023-03-03
Institutions: Directorate-General for Environment, European Commission
Subjects: exchange of information, export of waste, hazardous waste, international convention, revision of an agreement, transport of dangerous goods, waste disposal

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 3.3.2023  COM(2023) 109 final 2023/0057 (NLE)  Proposal for a COUNCIL DECISION on the position to be taken on behalf of the European Union at the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal with regard to certain amendments of Articles in that Convention.   
 
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

1. 

SUBJECT MATTER OF THE PROPOSAL 

This proposal concerns a decision establishing the Union’s position at the Conference of the 
Parties  to  the  Basel  Convention,  with  respect  to  the  European  Union  proposal  to  amend 
Annex  IV of this Convention  and of the Russian Federation proposal  to  amend Article 6 of 
this Convention. The next meeting is  scheduled to  take place in  May 2023 (16th meeting of 
the Conference of the Parties). The two proposals mentioned above were already discussed at 
the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties in June 2022. The position of the Union on 
these proposals for the 15th Conference of the Parties was defined by Council Decisions (EU) 
2020/1829  of  24  November  2020  and  (EU)  2022/1025  of  2  June  2022.  A  new  Council 
Decision  is  needed  for  the  next  meetings  of  the  Conference  of  Parties  on  these  proposals, 
starting with the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties. 

2. 

2.1. 

CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL 

The  Basel  Convention  on  the  Control  of  Transboundary  Movements  of 
Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal  

The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and 
their  Disposal  (‘the  Convention’)  was  adopted  on  22  March  1989  and  entered  into  force  in 
1992. The European Union as well as its Member States are Parties to the Convention1. The 
Convention has 188 Parties. 

The Convention's cornerstone is a control system for the export, import and transit of certain 
waste,  through  the  procedure  of  “prior  informed  consent”.  Exports  of  waste  subject  to  the 
Convention shall be notified in advance to the competent authorities of the States of import 
and transit. The notifications shall be made in writing and shall contain the declarations and 
information specified in Annex V A to the Convention. A waste export may only proceed if 
and when all States concerned have given their written consent (Article 6 of the Convention). 

The Convention's control system applies to hazardous waste defined in Article 1 and listed in 
Annex VIII to the Convention, as well as to waste listed in Annex II, which contains waste 
collected  from  households,  residues  arising  from  the  incineration  of  household  waste  and 
certain plastic wastes. The Convention also lists waste entries in Annex IX which do not fall 
within  its  scope  and  control  system  unless  such  waste  contains  a  material  belonging  to  a 
category in Annex I to an extent causing it to exhibit a hazardous characteristic in Annex III. 

2.2. 

The Conference of the Parties 

The Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention is the principal decision-making body 
of the Convention. It has powers to amend the Annexes to the Convention and it meets every 
two  years.    The  fifteenth  meeting  of  the  Conference  of  the  Parties  to  the  Basel  Convention 
(COP15) was held in two segments: a first online segment took place from 26 to 30 July 2021 
and the face-to-face segment, from 6 to 17 June 2022. 

The sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention (COP16) will 
be held in Geneva from 1 to 12 May 2023. 

1 

Council  Decision  93/98/EEC  concerning  the  conclusion,  on  behalf  of  the  Community,  of  the  Basel 
Convention  of  22  March  1989  on  the  control  of  transboundary  movements  of  hazardous  wastes  and 
their disposal, OJ L 39, 16.2.1993, p. 1. 

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2.3. 

 The proposed amendments to the Convention  

Proposed amendment of Annex IV of the Convention by the Union 
The review of Annexes to the Convention was initiated by the 12th meeting of the Conference 
of the Parties (COP-12) by its decision BC-12/1.2  
The  13th  meeting  of  the  Conference  of  the  Parties  (COP-13)  decided  to  establish  an  expert 
working group (EWG) for the review of the above annexes. 

The EWG has issued a number of recommendations and options for Parties to consider if they 
wish  to  submit  proposals  for  COP  consideration  to  amend  and  clarify  the  descriptions  of 
disposal  operations  listed  in  Annex  IV  to  the  Convention.  The  proposals  will,  if  adopted, 
result in improved legal clarity and therefore facilitate controls of shipments of waste and the 
prevention  of  illegal  shipments.  They  will  also  support  the  environmentally  sound 
management of waste at global level and contribute to the transition towards a global circular 
economy.  

Following Council Decision (EU) 2020/1829 a proposal for the amendment of Annex IV was 
tabled on behalf of the Union on 3 December 2020, for discussion at COP-15. The proposal 
aims to improve the implementation of the Basel Convention, in particular through changes to 
the definitions of waste management operations and wastes to be controlled, contained in the 
Annexes of the Convention. The proposal was discussed at COP-15 of the Convention in June 
2022.  During  the  discussions  many  Parties  considered  that  some  elements  of  the  proposal 
were problematic, such as the inclusion of “preparing for re-use” as a new waste management 
operation, the introduction in Annex IV of operations occurring prior to submission to other 
operations  (“interim  operations”)  and  the  introduction  of  a  “catch-all”  clause  for  operations 
not covered by other ones. Therefore, additional discussion at future Conference of the Parties 
will be needed to progress on this activity.  

If amendments to Annex IV of the Convention are agreed by the COP, they will have to be 
implemented  in  the  EU  waste  framework  Directive  2008/98/EC3  (the  list  of  waste 
management  operations  corresponding  to  Annex  IV  to  the  Convention)  and  possibly 
Regulation (EC) No 1013/20064. 

Proposed amendment of Article 6(2) of the Convention by the Russian Federation  
The  Russian  Federation  tabled  a  proposal  for  consideration  at  the  15th  meeting  of  the 
Conference of the Parties, designed to amend the first sentence of paragraph 2 of Article 6 of 
the Convention (‘the envisaged act’)5. 

The  first  sentence  of  Article  6(2)  of  the  Convention  reads  as  follows:  “The  State  of  import 
shall  respond  to  the  notifier  in  writing,  consenting  to  the  movement  with  or  without 
conditions, denying permission for the movement, or requesting additional information”. 

This envisaged act proposes to change this sentence through the addition of a time limit of 30 
days  within  which  a  country  of  import  should  respond  to  the  notifier  (to  consent  to  the 
planned shipment, deny its permission to this shipment, or to request additional information). 

2 

3 

4 

5 

is 

of 

on 

available 

information 

the  website 

More 
http://www.basel.int/Implementation/LegalMatters/LegalClarity/ReviewofAnnexes/AnnexesI,III,IVand
relatedaspectsofAnnexes/tabid/6269/Default.aspx 
Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 on waste 
and repealing certain Directives, OJ L 312, 22.11.2008, p. 3–30. 
Regulation  (EC)  No  1013/2006  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  14  June  2006  on 
shipments of waste, OJ L 190, 12.7.2006, p. 1. 
The 
on 
http://www.basel.int/TheConvention/Communications/tabid/1596/Default.aspx  

the  Basel  Convention, 

the  Basel  Convention, 

the  website 

available 

proposal 

see 

see 

of 

is 

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In addition, the proposal consists in deleting the “,” between “conditions” and “denying”, to 
replace the comma with “or”.  

The Convention is implemented in the Union through Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 of the 
European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2006 on shipments of waste (“the WSR” 
hereafter). Any modifications to the Convention would come into effect in the EU after they 
have been implemented through amendments of this Regulation.  

The  current  rules  applying  to  the  Union  and  its  Member  States  already  foresee  a  30  days 
deadline for the importing country to respond to the notifier (see Article 8 of the WSR). This 
also applies to other OECD countries, as per the OECD Decision6.  

For the Union, the only practical consequence of the changes linked to the Russian Federation 
proposal  would  relate  to  the  procedure  for  the  export  of  notified  waste  to  non-OECD 
countries.  As  export  of  Annex  VIII  and  Annex  II  waste  to  non-OECD  countries  is  banned 
under the WSR, the change triggered by the Russian proposal would only relate to “unlisted 
waste”  (i.e.  with  the  Russian  proposal,  non-OECD  countries  importing  unlisted  waste  from 
the EU would have to respond to the notifier within 30 days), which, under Article 3(1)(b)(iii) 
and  (iv)  of  the  WSR,  are  subject  to  the  procedure  of  “prior  informed  consent”.  The 
amendment  proposed  by  the  Russian  Federation  would  mean  that,  for  these  cases,  the 
importing country would have to respond within 30 days to the notifier of a shipment from the 
Union destined to a non-OECD country.  
A  first  discussion  on  the  Russian  Federation  proposal  took  place  at  the  15th  meeting  of  the 
Conference of the Parties. In agreement with the Council Decision (EU) 2022/1025 of 2 June 
2022, the Union position did not support such a proposal. Several like-minded Parties also did 
not support the Russian Federation proposal. However, other Parties expressed support on the 
proposal.  

As  a  result  of  the  first  discussion,  the  Conference  of  the  Parties  decided  to  postpone  the 
consideration of the Russian proposal to COP16t: 

“Given the discussion under the present sub-item and those under agenda item 4 (a) (i) on the 
strategic  framework  with  regard  to  Parties’  interest  in  considering  possible  ways  of 
improving  the  prior  informed  consent  procedure,  the  Conference  of  the  Parties  decided  to 
defer  consideration  of  the  proposal  by  the  Russian  Federation  to  amend  paragraph  2  of 
Article 6 of the Convention to the following meeting of the Conference of the Parties”. 

Procedures for the amendments of the Convention 

The  procedure  for  amending  the  Convention  is  governed  by  Article  17  of  the  Convention. 
Any  such  amendment  must  be  adopted  at  a  meeting  of  the  Conference  of  the  Parties.  An 
amendment  becomes  binding  on  those  Parties  that  deposit  their  instruments  of  ratification, 
approval,  formal  confirmation  or  acceptance  in  accordance  with  Article  17(5)  of  the 
Convention,  which  provides:  “Instruments  of  ratification,  approval,  formal  confirmation  or 
acceptance  of  amendments  shall  be  deposited  with  the  Depositary.  Amendments  adopted  in 
accordance  with  paragraphs  3  or  4  above  shall  enter  into  force  between  Parties  having 
accepted them on the ninetieth day after the receipt by the Depositary of their instrument of 
ratification,  approval,  formal  confirmation  or  acceptance  by  at  least  three-fourths  of  the 
Parties who accepted them or by at least two thirds of the Parties to the protocol concerned 
who accepted them, except as may otherwise be provided in such protocol. The amendments 
shall  enter  into  force  for  any  other  Party  on  the  ninetieth  day  after  that  Party  deposits  its 

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Decision  on  the  Control  of  Transboundary  Movements  of  Wastes  Destined  for  Recovery  Operations, 
https://legalinstruments.oecd.org/en/instruments/OECD-LEGAL-0266  

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instrument of ratification, approval, formal confirmation or acceptance of the amendments”. 
There  is  therefore  a  need  for  a  ratification,  approval,  formal  confirmation  or  acceptance  by 
three  quarters  of  the  Parties  to  the  Convention  (so  141  Parties)  for  any  amendment  of  the 
Convention to enter into force. 

So far, the body of the Convention has been amended once, through the addition of an Article 
4A  and  of  a  subsequent  addition  of  an  Annex  VII  (“the  Basel  Ban  amendment”)  to  the 
Convention. This amendment was agreed by the Conference of the Parties at its third meeting 
in 1995 and it entered into force in 2019, for those Parties that have ratified it.  

3. 

POSITION TO BE TAKEN ON THE UNION'S BEHALF 

Proposed amendment of Annex IV of the Convention by the Union 

In line with Council Decision (EU) 2020/1829 of 24 November 2020, the Union submitted a 
proposal  to  amend  Annex  IV  and  certain  entries  in  Annexes  II  and  IX  to  the  Convention 
which inter alia contained the following elements: 

 

 

 

Inclusion of a general introduction clearly distinguishing the terms final disposal and 
recovery, of clarifications that all waste management operations that occur or might 
occur  in  practice  are  covered  regardless  of  their  legal  status  and  whether  they  are 
considered to be environmentally sound, and that also operations occurring prior to 
submission to other operations (“interim operations”) are covered.  

Inclusion  of  captions  and  introductory  texts  explaining  what  is  meant  by  non-
recovery operations (Annex IVA) and recovery operations (Annex IVB), and      

clarifications on existing operations and introduction of new operations in Annex IV, 
which  would  aim,  inter  alia,  to  update  and  clarify  the  descriptions  of  operations  in 
line  with  scientific,  technical  and  other  developments  since  the  Convention  was 
adopted  in  1989,  and  ensure  by  the  introduction  of  catch-all  provisions  that  all 
operations not specifically mentioned are covered by the Convention’s requirements.  

The above proposals have the objectives to: 

 

 

 

Ensure  that  the  appropriate  control  mechanisms  of  the  Convention  are  fully 
applicable  and  would  therefore  if  adopted  improve  controls  of  shipments  of  waste 
and facilitate the prevention of illegal shipments,  

Improve  legal  clarity  and  a  common  understanding  and  interpretation  of  the  waste 
management operations by Parties, and  

Support  the  environmentally  sound  management  of  waste  at  global  level  and 
contribute to the transition towards a global circular economy. 

The Union should continue to support the above-mentioned objectives, but, in consideration 
of  the  opposition  expressed  at  COP-15  by  many  Parties,  in  particular  with  regard  to  the 
inclusion of new operations, for example, on preparing for reuse and catch-all operations, the 
Union  should  display  flexibility,  including  deferring  the  discussion  on  the  most  contentious 
topics and seeking an agreement on the remaining aspects of the proposal. 

If amendments of the relevant annexes are proposed by other Parties, which could achieve the 
same  objectives  as  those  behind  the  Union’s  proposal,  the  Union  should  show  openness  to 
consider these proposals and such proposals could in principle be supported by the Union. 

Proposed amendment of Article 6(2) of the Convention by the Russian Federation 

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The  European  Union  should  not  support  the  amendment  of  paragraph  2  of  Article  6  of  the 
Convention as proposed by the Russian Federation. This position is in line with the position 
agreed for COP-15 by Council Decision (EU) 2022/1025 of 2 June 2022.  

The first part of the amendment (30 days time limit for the importing country to respond to 
the notifier) would not bring any major advantage for the Union and its Member States, as the 
time  limit  of  30  days  for  importing  countries  to  respond  to  the  notifier  contained  in  the 
proposed amendment already applies to the majority of shipments notified by the EU and its 
Member  States  under  Union  law  (with  the  exception  of  exports  of  unlisted  waste  to  non-
OECD  countries).  Neither  would  it  change  obligations  for  the  EU  and  its  Member  States 
receiving notifications,  as the time limit  of 30 days to  respond  already applies under  Union 
law.  

The second part of the amendment  (replacing  a comma with  “or”) does not  seem  necessary 
and  would  create  legal  uncertainty.  The  current  formulation  is  sufficiently  clear  that  the 
importing  country  can  react  in  three  different  manners  when  responding  to  the  notifier 
(consenting  to  the  movement,  denying  the  permission  to  this  movement,  or  requesting 
additional information). There is therefore no need to amend this sentence.  

The  process  relating  to  amending  the  Convention  is  very  burdensome  and  time  consuming, 
especially  as  it  requires  each  Party  to  proceed  with  its  internal  ratification  process  and  a 
threshold of three quarters of all Parties to  ratify if before the  amendment  enters into force. 
This amendment might also in the end have a limited impact, as amendments are only binding 
on  those  who  have  ratified  them.  The  proposed  amendment  therefore  does  not  address 
properly  any  priority  for  the  Union  and  its  Member  States  for  a  better  effectiveness  of  the 
Convention, while launching a lengthy and heavy process  within the Convention and for its 
Parties.  

While not supporting the proposed amendments, the Union should stress that Parties should 
promote a better functioning of the prior informed consent procedure within the framework of 
the Basel Convention. This could include the establishment of other time limits for responses 
to  notifiers,  notably  for  transit  countries,  as  well  as  encouraging  the  use  of  electronic  data 
interchange  systems  or  incorporating  the  concept  of  “pre-consented  facilities”,  which  stems 
from the OECD Decision on transboundary movements of waste, into the Basel Convention 
framework.  There  are  a  number  of  processes  ongoing  in  the  Convention  already  on  these 
issues, including one launched on the improvement of the prior informed consent procedure 
launched at COP-15 at the initiative of the Union. The Union should underline the importance 
of  this  process  as  a  solution  to  a  number  of  issues  pertaining  to  the  implementation  of  the 
Convention and invite all Parties to participate in this process. 

4. 

LEGAL BASIS 

4.1. 

Procedural legal basis 

4.1.1.  Principles 

Article 218(9) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) provides for 
decisions establishing ‘the positions to be adopted on the Union’s behalf in a body set up by 
an  agreement,  when  that  body  is  called  upon  to  adopt  acts  having  legal  effects,  with  the 
exception of acts supplementing or amending the institutional framework of the agreement.’ 

The concept of ‘acts having legal effects’ includes acts that have legal effects by virtue of the 
rules of international law governing the body in question. It also includes instruments that do 

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not  have  a  binding  effect  under  international  law,  but  that  are  ‘capable  of  decisively 
influencing the content of the legislation adopted by the EU legislature’7. 

4.1.2.  Application to the present case 

The Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention is a body set up by the Convention. 

The acts which the Conference of the Parties  is called upon to adopt constitutes acts having 
legal  effects.  If  adopted,  the  envisaged  acts  would  be  binding  under  international  law  in 
accordance  with  Article  18  of  the  Convention  and  capable  of  decisively  influencing  the 
content of EU legislation, namely Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 on shipments of waste and 
Directive  2008/98/EC  on  waste.  This  Regulation  implements  the  Convention  by,  inter  alia, 
laying down the procedures for exports from and imports to the Union as well as shipments 
between Member States.  

The  envisaged  act  does  not  supplement  or  amend  the  institutional  framework  of  the 
Agreement.  

Therefore, the procedural legal basis for the proposed decision is Article 218(9) TFEU. 

4.2. 

Substantive legal basis 

4.2.1.  Principles 

The  substantive  legal  basis  for  a  decision  under  Article  218(9)  TFEU  depends  primarily  on 
the objective and content of the envisaged act in respect of which a position is taken on the 
Union's behalf.  If the  envisaged act  pursues two  aims or has two components  and if one of 
those  aims  or  components  is  identifiable  as  the  main  one,  whereas  the  other  is  merely 
incidental, the decision under Article 218(9) TFEU must be founded on a single substantive 
legal basis, namely that required by the main or predominant aim or component. 

4.2.2.  Application to the present case 

The  main  objective  and  content  of  the  envisaged  act  relate  to  the  protection  of  the 
environment. Therefore, the substantive legal basis of the proposed decision is Article 192(1) 
TFEU. 

4.3. 

Conclusion 

The legal basis of the proposed decision should be Article 192(1) TFEU, in conjunction with 
Article 218(9) TFEU.  

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Judgment  of 
ECLI:EU:C:2014:2258, paragraphs 61 to 64.  

the  Court  of  Justice  of  7  October  2014,  Germany  v  Council,  C-399/12, 

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2023/0057 (NLE) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DECISION 

on the position to be taken on behalf of the European Union at the Conference of the 
Parties to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of 
Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal with regard to certain amendments of Articles in 
that Convention. 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  on  the  Functioning  of  the  European  Union,  and  in  particular 
Article 192(1), in conjunction with Article 218(9) thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

The  Basel  Convention  on  the  Control  of  Transboundary  Movements  of  Hazardous 
Wastes  and  their  Disposal  (‘the  Convention’)  entered  into  force  in  1992  and  was 
approved by the Union by Council Decision 93/98/EEC concerning the conclusion, on 
behalf of the Community, of the Basel Convention of 22 March 1989 on the control of 
transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and their disposal8.  

Pursuant  to  Article  15(5)(b)  of  the  Convention,  the  Conference  of  the  Parties  shall 
consider and adopt, as required, amendments to the Convention. 
The  Conference  of  the  Parties,  during  its  15th  meeting  in  June  2022,  considered  a 
proposal for amendments of Article 6(2) of the Convention submitted by the Russian 
Federation.  That  proposal  aims  to  establish  a  30  days  time  limit  for  an  importing 
country to respond to the notifier of a shipment of waste and to include another change 
presented as editorial. The Conference of the Parties decided to defer consideration of 
this proposal to the following meeting of the Conference of the Parties. 

A  proposal  to  amend  Annex  IV  and  certain  entries  in  Annexes  II  and  IX  to  the 
Convention was submitted on the Union’s behalf and discussed by the Conference of 
the Parties, during its 15th meeting in June 2022. The proposal aims inter alia to amend 
and  clarify  the  descriptions  of  disposal  operations  listed  in  Annex  IV  to  the 
Convention and, in particular, to: include a general introduction clearly distinguishing 
the terms ‘non-recovery’ and ‘recovery’; include introductory texts explaining what is 
meant  by  ‘non-recovery  operations’  (Annex  IVA)  and  ‘recovery  operations’  (Annex 
IVB); update and clarify the descriptions of operations in line with scientific, technical 
and  other  developments  which  have  occurred  since  the  Convention  was  adopted  in 
1989; and ensure, through the introduction of catch-all provisions, that all operations 
not  specifically  mentioned  are  covered  by  the  Convention’s  requirements.  The 
Conference  of  the  Parties  decided  to  further  consider  this  proposal  at  the  following 
meeting of the Conference of the Parties. 

8 

OJ L 39, 16.2.1993, p. 1. 

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(5) 

It  is  necessary  to  establish  the  position  to  be  taken  on  the  Union’s  behalf  at  the 
Conference  of  the  Parties  on  those  proposals,  as,  being  amendments  to  the  text  and 
Annexes of the Convention, they have legal effects.  If adopted by the Conference of 
the  Parties,  the  envisaged  acts  would  be  binding  on  the  Union  and  capable  of 
decisively  impact  the  content  of  Union  law,  namely  Directive  2008/98/EC9,  and 
Regulation (EC) No 1013/200610. 

(6)  With  regard  to  the  amendments  of  Article  6(2)  of  the  Convention  submitted  by  the 
Russian  Federation,  the  Union  should  not  support  them  since  they  would  not  help 
addressing  the  problems  that  the  Union  considers  as  priorities  for  the  functioning  of 
the  Basel  Convention.  In  addition,  amendments  to  the  body  of  the  Convention  text 
require a long and heavy process to enter into force and it seems disproportionate to 
launch such process for an amendment, which has very little to no added-value. The 
Union  should  rather  continue  supporting  initiatives  designed  to  improve  the 
functioning of the procedure of “prior informed consent”, on the conditions that they 
have  a  broader  scope  than  the  proposal  submitted  to  COP15,  are  in  line  with  broad 
Union policies and objectives and do not require an amendment to the Convention.  

(7)  With regard to the proposal to amend Annex IV and certain entries in Annexes II and 
IX, the Union should continue to support its adoption. With a view to gather consensus 
on this proposal, the Union should also display flexibility, in particular with regard to 
the proposed measures that are unlikely to gather sufficient support for their adoption 
at  the  upcoming  Conference  of  Parties.  This  includes,  for  example,  deferring  the 
discussion  on  the  most  contentious  topics  (such  as  preparing  for  reuse  and  catch-all 
operations),  seeking  an  agreement  on  the  remaining  aspects  of  the  proposal  and 
supporting possible amendments by other Parties, provided that they could achieve the 
same  objectives  as  those  behind  the  Union’s  proposals  concerning  Annex  IV  to  the 
Convention. 

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: 

1. 

The position to be taken on the Union’s behalf at the meetings of the Conference of 
the Parties to the Basel Convention is the following: 

Article 1 

(a) 

(b) 

the Union shall not support the amendments to paragraph 2 of Article 6 
of  the  Convention,  as  submitted  by  the  Russian  Federation.  The  Union 
shall  support  initiatives  designed  to  improve  the  functioning  of  the 
procedure of “prior informed consent”, on the conditions that they are in 
line  with  broad  Union  policies  and  objectives  and  do  not  require  an 
amendment to the Convention. 

the  Union  shall  continue  supporting  the  adoption  of  the  amendments  to 
Annex IV and certain entries in Annexes II and IX of the Convention. If 
this  is  needed  in  order  to  ensure  that  consensus  is  found  on  an 
amendment of Annex IV, the Union should show flexibility and agree to 
depart  from  the  proposal  tabled  at  CoP15,  as  long  as  the  amendment 
the 
legal  clarity  of 
contributes 

the  Annex  and 

increase 

to 

to 

9 

10 

Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 on waste 
and repealing certain Directives, OJ L 312, 22.11.2008, p. 3–30. 
Regulation  (EC)  No  1013/2006  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  14  June  2006  on 
shipments of waste, OJ L 190, 12.7.2006, p. 1. 

EN 

8 

  EN 

                                                 
implementation  of the  control mechanisms  of the Convention, and does 
not undermine the EU legal regime on the management and shipments of 
waste.    

Article 2  

Refinement  of  the  position  referred  to  in  Article  1  may  be  agreed  to,  in  the  light  of 
developments at the 16th Conference of the Parties and following meetings of the Conference 
of the Parties, by representatives of the Union, in consultation with the Member States, during 
on-the-spot coordination meetings.  

This Decision is addressed to the Commission. 

Article 3 

Done at Brussels, 

For the Council 
The President 

EN 

9 

  EN