German Presidency supports move towards practical solutions
The diverging implementation of Directive 2002/96/EC on waste electrical and electronic equipment ("WEEE") in the EU member states leads to considerable cost and effort for producers. Registration of producers and importers is a vital instrument to protect competition from companies that try to avoid their disposal commitments. However, currently companies acting legally on the European market are confronted with more than 27 different registers and the respective registration requirements. The German Environment Ministry considers the subsequent consequences for the companies involved serious. Within the framework of Germany’s EU Presidency, the Ministry is therefore hosting an international workshop on the harmonisation of registration in Brussels from 3-4 Mai 2007.
Experts from ministries and regional registers, representatives and advisors of the EU Commission and of the industry sectors concerned will discuss the practical requirements, options and limits of harmonising registration procedures.
The focus is on the work of the recently founded European WEEE Registers Network (EWRN), an initiative of registers from 12 member states so far. It is the goal of this initiative to build on practical experience and establish a balance between the justified interest in the free movement of goods and the accommodation of specific structural features of national markets. The Network intends to facilitate registration procedures through cooperation in such a way that comparable registrations can be made all over Europe. The German Environment Ministry supports this promising approach since it is not a theoretical but a real life approach.
National registration requirements vary, for instance, requirements for a disposal guarantee for the event of insolvency or requirements for registering quantities. Furthermore, opinions also differ on what equipment category an appliance falls in or whether equipment is marketed for private or commercial purposes.
Harmonisation of registration in Europe must also take account of the different circumstances in individual member states: depending on market size or the number of producers and importers, competition, for instance, varies between states, the same is true for the respective waste management infrastructure.
Further Information:
- Speech by Dr. Helge Wendenburg: Freedom, equality, harmony – Market control as instrument for environmental protection and economic development