Representatives of the Council of Ministers were in a conciliation meeting with senior European Parliament members today (October 10) and were expected to reach an agreed position.
The current Danish presidency is eager to achieve an agreement with the European Parliament and pushed for the meeting to be held swiftly.
The end of the conciliation period also marks the end of any opportunities for stakeholders to express their views to MEPs about the draft Directive.
Conciliation occurred after the Second Reading of the WEEE Directive text when the Commission and the Parliament decided that there were too many areas of difference between them.
Some of the main proposals suggested include further emphasis on re-use; compulsory separation of waste by consumers and an increase of collection targets from an average of 4kg to 6kg per inhabitant per year. Other negotiations include further flexibility on the retailer take-back schemes.
Upon the publication of a common text, the directive will then be published in the Official Journal. From this point the UK has 18 months in which to transpose it into domestic law. Thirty months from the date of publication, producer responsibility will kick-in and 40 months on, recovery and recycling targets will take effect.
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