Luxembourg, 28/06/2007 (Agence Europe) - When it comes to the environment, the German EU Council Presidency was a total success. In addition to the successful and ambitious commitments taken at the last summit on climate change, the last Environment Council presided by Sigmar Gabriel also made major breakthroughs on 28 June in Luxembourg, some achieved after quite a struggle.
Such was the case for the political agreement reached after several hours of hard talking on the proposal for a directive on waste prevention and recycling, the pillar of the thematic strategy of the same name.
The compromise, approved after considerable wrangling, makes it an obligation for member states to draw up prevention programmes with quantitative and qualitative objectives. It also imposes minimum standards for waste processing to avoid dumping in the environment, and acknowledges two kinds of waste incineration: - incineration with a view to elimination, and incineration recognised as an operation that enhances installations using waste as fuel, with effectiveness criteria established at 65% for new installations and at 60% for existing installations. The text also provides for derogations - this being the point requiring the most negotiation - allowing member states to limit imports and exports of waste intended for incineration, subject to very strict conditions.
Thus, member states will be authorised to oppose the import of waste when such waste is added to national waste and should be eliminated in waste disposal sites (Danish proposal) and when national waste cannot be processed according to the provisions of the national waste prevention plan (idea suggested by the Czech Republic). This at least reassures Germany's rim countries (Austria, Denmark, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Italy) who feared that their processing installations would be saturated if exported waste were to submerge them.
The rules in force concerning waste transfer will apply for exports. In other terms, member states may oppose this for environmental reasons only (in the case of environmental risks, or if the standards of the exporting country are higher than those of the country of destination). This is reassuring for small countries such as Luxembourg, Malta, Cyprus and Ireland, who have no other means but to export their waste for incineration, and who do not wish to be assimilated to those who carry out the illegal transfer of waste.
This political agreement was followed by a political agreement on the proposal to ban exports of metallic mercury as of 1 July 2011 (as the Commission wanted). Member states did not accept the idea of long term storage for this substance in disaffected salt mines. They call on the Commission to submit, by end 2010, a proposal (in the context of comitology) on conditions allowing this kind of storage in safe conditions. EUROPE will come back to the results of the Council in a later issue. (an)