Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-12-17-Speech-2-311"
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"en.20021217.11.2-311"2
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"Mr President, now I know at last how European laws are really made. They are made in the Council of Ministers building by exhausted people shouting at each other in corridors in the middle of the night – and the rapporteur and the Commissioner will know exactly to what I am referring.
If I am asked to give an example of the way in which the principles of sustainable development can be put into practice, then this directive may well be it. If I am asked about the burden of new regulations which Parliament sometimes places upon industry in the cause of environmental improvement, I will proclaim this directive as an example of the way in which industry and Parliament can work together. It is a splendid piece of legislation. It is not the end, but it is a good beginning and much credit goes to both the Commission and our rapporteur.
I am particularly pleased with the principle of individual producer responsibility, which has been so firmly embraced. Within the last week we have seen two good illustrations of the way in which industry is responding to it professionally and effectively. Four of the major manufacturers of electrical goods, including our chief lobbyist, Electrolux, have teamed up to develop a common approach to waste management which aims to be both innovative and cost efficient. And the mobile phone manufacturers of the world have agreed to cooperate to ensure the environmentally sound management of their end-of-life products.
My principal concern relates to – and I echo Mrs Doyle's words – the implementation of the directive. Just a few weeks ago government representatives in that room in the Council committed themselves to this legislation at the conciliation meeting. It is all supposed to be transposed into national law in about 18 months' time. But judging from our experience with the end-of-life vehicles directive, that will not be the case so far as many Member States are concerned. The UK Government has still not transposed Mr Florenz's legislation.
I hope the Commission will take advantage of the European Convention to present some proposals to change the enforcement procedures to stop Member States getting away with breaking their commitments and playing the system.
Finally, the text of Article 4 was the matter I referred to in my opening remarks. I tabled the draft to try and deal with the problem of printer cartridges, many of which are not being recycled for anti-competitive reasons and are instead ending up in poisonous dumps in China. I hear that, sadly, the UK Government is trying to wriggle out of the intended requirement to prevent producers from making their reuse difficult by claiming that these products are consumables. It will probably take a British judge to make them recognise the obvious truth, that a cartridge fitted with an electronic chip is an item of electronic equipment.
I hope that other Member States will take the lead in this and in other respects in putting this directive fully into practice, and show by example just what a commendable piece of legislation this directive will prove to be. I wish you and members of the conciliation delegation, and the Commissioner and her staff, a merry Christmas."@en1
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