Brussels, 23/10/2015 (Agence Europe) - If it wishes to avoid being referred to the Court of Justice of the EU, the Czech Republic will have to take back 20,000 tonnes of dangerous waste shipped, at the end of 2010, to Poland, which refuses to accept the shipment on the grounds that is hazardous waste.
The European Commission decided on Thursday 23 October to send a reasoned opinion (second stage of the infringement procedure) to the Czech authorities enjoining them to take back the waste, in line with the provisions of Regulation EC No 1013/2006 on the transfer of waste. The waste in question is a mixture of acid tar from petroleum refining, coal dust and calcium oxide, shipped to Katowice by a Czech operator and classified as a product under Czech law.
The EU regulation stipulates that if the relevant authorities in different member states cannot agree on whether a shipment is waste or non-waste, it must be treated as waste, and, therefore, taken back by its country of origin. Despite receiving a letter of formal notice in 2014, the Czech authorities have still not taken back the waste. They will now have two months to do so, failing which the Commission may take the matter to the Court of Justice. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)