Luxembourg, 24/06/2002 (Agence Europe) - The Netherlands has won its case at the European Court of Justice for cancellation of a provision of the 1999 Commission Directive that allowed Austria and Sweden to continue to apply, until 31 December 2002, stricter restrictions than the European norms in respect of use of cadmium. Cadmium, together with tin and pentachlorophenol (PCP), is considered as a dangerous substance whose marketing and use is governed by a 1976 Council directive amended several times by the Commission in order to adjust to technical progress.
The Commission merely allows Austria and Sweden to continue with the existing restrictions in these two countries, states the Court. The Commission therefore wrongly used a procedure allowing it only to take action at Community level and only in the event of new risks for health and the environment. The Commission defended itself by saying that it would have disappointed the legitimate expectations of Austria and Sweden, and breached the principle of sound administration, if it had not adopted the contested provision on the use of cadmium, and "since additional restrictions on the use of cadmium are quite likely to be required". The Netherlands reproached the Commission with having created a special regime for Austria and Sweden in breach of European rules.