On 16 June, the Council of the EU adopted its position on the European Commission’s proposal to amend EU legislation on the management of waste from electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) to bring it into line with a Court of Justice of the EU judgment. The Council is now ready to negotiate with the European Parliament once Parliament has given its opinion.
In January 2022 (Case C-18/20), the Court partially invalidated the WEEE directive (2012/19/EU), which came into force on 13 August 2012, on the grounds that it unduly obliged producers of photovoltaic panels to finance the costs of managing the waste from those panels where they were placed on the market before the directive came into force. It concluded that the extended producer responsibility system was unjustifiably applied retroactively to waste from photovoltaic panels placed on the market between 13 August 2005 and 13 August 2012 (see EUROPE 12876/26).
Consequently, on 7 February 2023, the Commission proposed a targeted amendment to the directive. Consequently, the costs of managing the waste from photovoltaic panels placed on the market after 13 August 2012 will be borne by the producer.
In addition, for products added to the scope of the directive in 2018, extended producer responsibility would apply to products placed on the market after that date. The WEEE directive has implemented an ‘open scope’ from 15 August 2018, which means that all electrical and electronic equipment is considered to be covered by the directive, unless specifically excluded.
The Council’s negotiating mandate approves the Commission’s proposal and clarifies the links with the relevant provisions of the Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/EC).
It also extends the transposition period for the new directive from 12 to 18 months - the same transposition period that applied when the directive came into force in 2012.
View the EU Council’s negotiating position: https://aeur.eu/f/7kt
View the Commission’s proposal: https://aeur.eu/f/7kv (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)