Following a question in the European Parliament tabled by Caroline Jackson (UK), Robert Goodwill (UK) and Bernd Lange (Germany), Members of the European Parliament called on the European Commission to punish EU countries that fail to implement Directives before designated deadlines.
The ELV Directive (2000/53/EC), which was drawn up in September 2000, sets targets to recycle 85% of all ELVs by weight by January 2006 and 95% by January 2015. Around 1.8 million tonnes worth of vehicles come to the end of their natural lives each year in Britain, and around 73-75% of the materials in an ELV can be recycled at the moment.
The Directive stipulates that the last owner of a vehicle must be able to dispose of it free of charge, with producers meeting all, or most, of the cost. The UK is one of a number of EU Member States that has been unable to implement the regulations, despite being obliged to do so by April 21, 2002.
Only five countries – Austria, Denmark, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands – have taken steps to implement the Directive.
Measures
A European Union statement released yesterday said that the UK has announced that it will “have measures in place by this spring to implement Directive 2000/53/EC”. However, with the government expected to release draft regulations some time in the next few weeks, ELV regulations are not expected to be resolved in this country before the summer 2003.
Ongoing negotiations over ELV collection and treatment, orphan vehicles and contracting issues with treatment facilities are currently proceeding with the Department of Trade and Industry. Discussions are also continuing at the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs over depolluting standards.
The issue of the EU Member States' failure to implement this legislation has been taken up as a wider problem by MEPs, who “complained bitterly that the Commission fails to punish Member States for not complying with EU laws, and voiced their disgust that a fine had only ever been imposed on a Member State in one case”, according to a Commission spokesperson.
The problem, the Commission official explained, was that Member States often wait until the very last minute to comply with the legislation “in extremis” just before the “sword of Damocles” falls in the shape of the final European Court of Justice ruling against them.
Click here for more information on the European ELV regulations.
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