Brussels, 02/08/2001 (Agence Europe) - On Monday, the European Commission decided to send a formal request to the United Kingdom and Austria requesting them to correctly transpose into national law all the provisions of the directive on hazardous waste.
The Commission considers that the United Kingdom has failed to correctly transpose into its national legislation various articles of this directive. It considers, for example, that it has failed to correctly transpose the definition of "hazardous waste". In addition, the prohibition on the mixing of hazardous wastes has not been fully implemented in Gibraltar or Northern Ireland. The United Kingdom has also granted exemptions to the obligation of having a permit for waste operations, which exceeds the more limited exemption rights provided for under the Directive.
In the case of Austria, the Commission considers that this Member State has not correctly transposed the obligation of hazardous waste to be separated. The Commission also states that Austria has failed to ensure that periodic inspections are carried out in line with the Directive. Should the Commission not receive satisfactory replies to these formal requests within two months, it may decide to turn to the Court of Justice of the European Communities.