In a preliminary judgment (Case C-181/20 Vysočina Wind) on Tuesday 25 January, the Court of Justice of the European Union partially invalidated Article 13(1) of the ‘WEEE’ Directive on the management of electrical and electronic waste (2012/19/EU), which entered into force on 13 August 2012.
The Court considers that this directive unduly requires producers of photovoltaic panels to finance costs relating to the management of the waste from those panels, even when they were placed on the market before the entry into force of the directive.
Vysočina Wind, a Czech company operating a solar power plant with photovoltaic panels put on the market after 13 August 2005, had paid these costs for the years 2015 and 2016. However, it brought an action for damages against the Czech Republic on the grounds that the Czech Waste Act, which includes the obligation to contribute for users of photovoltaic panels, is contrary to Article 13(1) of the ‘WEEE’ Directive.
As the appeal lodged by Vysočina Wind was successful, both at first instance and on appeal, the Czech Republic lodged an appeal in cassation with the Czech Supreme Court.
The Czech Supreme Court referred the case to the EU Court of Justice for a preliminary judgment on the interpretation and validity of Article 13(1) of the ‘WEEE’ Directive, but it is not its role to decide the main proceedings.
In its judgment, the CJEU confirms that, in accordance with Article 13(1) of the ‘WEEE’ Directive, the financing of the costs of managing the waste from such panels placed on the market from 13 August 2012 must be borne by the producers of those panels and not, as provided for in the Czech legislation, by their users.
However, the Court states that a new legal rule, which applies to situations previously acquired, cannot be regarded as complying with the principle of non-retroactivity of legal acts where it alters, a posteriori and unforeseeably, the allocation of costs the occurrence of which can no longer be avoided.
In this case, the producers of the photovoltaic panels were not in a position to foresee, at the time of the design of the panels, that they would subsequently be required to finance the costs of managing the waste from these panels.
It therefore declares Article 13(1) of the ‘WEEE’ Directive invalid insofar as it requires producers to finance the costs of managing the waste from photovoltaic panels placed on the market between 13 August 2005 and 13 August 2012.
It will be up to the Czech court to resolve the case in accordance with the decision of the Court of Justice of the EU.
See the judgment: https://bit.ly/349eIzl (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)