EEL News Service 2004/04, 26 February 2004

Added to Legislation page:

* Parliament and Council Directive 2004/12/EC of 11 February 2004 amending Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste

After long negotiations finally an agreement was reached on minor changes to the directive, notably on new recovery and recycling targets to be met.

Added to Case law page:

* C-406/02 Commission v Belgium, ECJ 12 February 2004, nyr

Belgium condemned over slow reporting on application of the 1976 Dangerous Substances Directive and the 1978 Fresh Waters Directive.

Added to Documents, Commission Communications, General:

* Commission Communication, Implementing the Community strategy to reduce CO2 emissions from cars: Third annual report on the effectiveness of the strategy (Reporting year 2001), COM(2002)693 of 9 December 2002

* Commission Communication, Towards a thematic strategy on the urban environment, COM(2004)60 of 11 February 2004

*Commission guidelines for the monitoring and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions pursuant to Directive 2003/87/EC, C(2004)130 final, 29 January 2004

Binding guidelines setting out how industrial plants involved in the EU emissions trading scheme should measure and report their releases of greenhouse gases.

Added to Documents, Documents of the EU Parliament:

*European Parliament resolution of 10 February 2004 on progress in implementing Council Directive 96/61/EC concerning integrated pollution prevention and control COM (2003) 354 – C5-0410/2003) – 2003/2125(INI)

The European parliament has issued a scathing critique of the EU integrated pollution prevention and control (IPPC) directive and of national efforts to implement it.

Added to Dossiers, Environmental liability dossier:

* Introduction to Environmental liability Directive proposal

* European Parliament second-reading amendments to Environmental liability Directive proposal

* An Analysis of the Preventive Effect of Environmental Liability. Environmental Liability, Location and Emissions Substitution: Evidence From the Toxic Release Inventory

The study shows that adoption of strict liability in preference to a negligence-based system does not appear to have induced widespread, unforeseen changes in the way firms handle their toxic pollutant emissions.

Added to National, Russia:

* Communication from the Commission on relations with Russia, COM (2004) 106 of 9 February 2004

Added to Conferences:

* 25 February 2004, UK Bilateral Investment Treaty Programme and Sustainable Development: Implications of bilateral negotiations on investment at a time when multilateral talks are faltering, London, UK

* 4-5 March, 2004, Greens/European free alliance conference: remaking the global trading system, Brussels, Belgium

* 9-12 March 2004, UNEP-GEF sub-regional workshop on development of national biosafety frameworks for anglophone Africa, Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania

*20-23 April 2004, UNEP-GEF sub-regional workshop on development of national biosafety frameworks for francophone Africa. Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

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Editors

Wybe Th. Douma (T.M.C. Asser Institute, The Hague)

Daria Ratsiborinskaya (Institute of European law, MGIMO-University, Moscow)

Technical realisation

Marco van der Harst, Julien J.M. Simon

(T.M.C. Asser Institute, The Hague)

e-mail: mailto:eelnewsservices@asser.nl