DTI informs of stages before WEEE directive becomes law in UK

The document also summarises the processes between the agreements made at this October 11 2002 meeting through to its transposition into UK law see letsrecycle story . The WEEE Directive demands are expected to be transposed into UK law within 18months.

Although the negotiation period is now officially over, final versions of the text are yet to be place on the European Union statute books.

Conciliation texts still need to be checked by EU legal services to iron out inconsistencies between the articles and translated into Community languages. This could result in minor changes, although, according to head of recycling and producer responsibility at the DTI, Dr Mark Downs, these “are usually of technical nature and the text should not change in substance, if at all.”

This legal checking and translation could take between six to twelve weeks, and occasionally longer, as, according to Dr Downs, “there is always a time delay between voting and publication in the Official Journal.”

The resulting approved texts must then be voted on by Council and supported by a qualified majority. They must also be endorsed by a plenary of the European Parliament on the basis of a simple majority of the votes cast. It is unusual for voting in either institution to be negative at this late stage and there is a general presumption that the drafts will be approved.

However, there are a small number of examples, said Dr Downs, “of directives &#39Fa;iling' at this stage. Given that these directives are particular complex all parties will want to review the detail of the new texts carefully.”

The DTI states that if both votes are positive, the texts will then be published into the Official Journal. Dr Downs said: “For the present we are assuming that the Directives will not be published until the New Year. Our “best estimate” is March 2003. This would suggest a transposition deadline of September 2004, with the financial aspects of producer responsibility coming in around September 2005.

Ministers will be considering the detail of the conciliated text over the coming weeks, while the DTI will continue to consult informally, and aim to raise awareness through continuing its series of seminars in throughout the UK, the first of the DTI’s series of formal consultations will begin early next year.

Viewpoints

Although at this stage, no decisions have been made on which approach is best for the UK, the DTI says it will actively seek the input of interested parties and present these views to government ministers with view to helping to shape and decide what is best for the UK. As Dr Downs said: “There is considerable flexibility for member states to implement the WEEE directive in a way which best suits domestic circumstances”.

A consolidated text, including all the changes made between the European Council and Parliament that followed last week’s conciliation meeting on the Waste Electronics and Electrical Directive will be available next week. Interested parties can access this information, which will be circulated by the Danish Presidency later this week or early next week will be able to access this information on the DTI website on DTI website