Milieu: Europese Commissie spoort Slowakije aan om de afvoer en verwerking van voertuigen voor de sloop in lijn te brengen met EU-regelgeving (en)
The European Commission is urging Slovakia to bring its national law in line with EU rules relating to vehicles that have reached the end of their lives. The Commission is concerned about continued shortcomings in Slovakia's transposition of the legislation. On the recommendation of Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik i, the Commission is sending a reasoned opinion. Slovakia has two months to comply with the request. Failing this, the Commission may refer the case to the European Court of Justice.
The European Commission is warning Slovakia about deficiencies in its transposition of EU law on end-of-life vehicles. Current Slovak legislation does not sufficiently encourage vehicle manufacturers to avoid using hazardous materials, and the term 'hazardous substances' is not clearly defined. The Commission outlined a number of gaps and deficiencies in a letter of formal notice to Slovakia on 8 October 2009, but to date Slovakia has amended only one piece of legislation, and has informed the Commission that it intends to adopt a new waste law in 2011 to address the remaining breaches. As this represents a major delay in rectifying the shortcomings identified in 2009, the Commission is sending a reasoned opinion.
Background
Directive 2000/53/EC on end-of-life vehicles aims to reduce the amount of waste arising from vehicles which have reached the end of their useful life. Member States have to establish collection systems and ensure vehicles are transferred to authorised treatment facilities and stripped before treatment. They must also ensure that all environmentally hazardous components are recovered. Priority must be given to the re-use and recovery of vehicle components. For more details on waste policy on end-of-life vehicles, visit: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/elv_index.htm
For details about EU waste legislation in general, see:
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/index.htm
For current statistics on infringements in general, see:
http://ec.europa.eu/community_law/infringements/infringements_en.htm