07/12/2005 (Agence Europe) - On 6 December, the conciliation committee confirmed the agreement on the directive concerning the management of waste from the mining industries within the EU, which was reached by the European Parliament and the Council on 29 November (EUROPE 9079). A press release by the Council recalls that waste from the mining industries represents 29% of all waste produced every year within the EU (an annual volume exceeding 400 million tonnes), and that several Member States have already experienced major accidents (such as those of Aberfan, Aznalcollar and Baia Mare). Here are some of the main points of the agreement: -financial guarantees will have to be available at any point in time, for the rehabilitation of land affected (and not just for the rehabilitation of the mining site in question, as provided for by the initial common position of the Council); -these guarantees will be adjusted "periodically" ("adequately", according to the common position); -operators putting waste back into excavation shafts by means of rehabilitating the sites will have to respect extremely strict rules, in order to avoid pollution. Bulgaria and Romania, both of which are candidate countries, stress in a joint declaration that they will transpose the directive into their national legislation by the planned date (in two years' time).