Dear readers,
This issue of the EEL News Service will be the last one appearing in the year 2005. We would like to thank you for having been with us through 2005. The next issue of the EEL news letter will appear in week 2 of 2006. In the meantime, the editors would like to wish all subscribers a merry holiday season and a happy new year.
The editors
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Upcoming Event:
* 2-3 February 2006, REACH – A New EU Chemicals Policy, Trier, Germany
REACH – a single, integrated system for Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals. The conference organised by ERA aims to analyse the REACH proposal in-depth, not only on the political but also on the legal level, taking into account the most recent developments, in order to contribute to the development of this important piece of European legislation. Registration before 23 December 2005 brings a special 15% discount. Click here for more information.
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Added to Case Law, ECJ:
* C-344/03, Commission vs. Finland
ECJ 15-12-2005, nyr,
Finland has not complied with the requirement relating to the capture of birds only in small numbers, as referred to in Article 9(1)(c) of Directive 79/404/EEC, with regard to the spring hunting of certain aquatic birds in mainland Finland and the province of Åland.
* C-67/05, Commission vs. Germany
ECJ 15-12-2005, nyr, not yet available in English
Germany has been condemned by the ECJ for not having implemented the Water Framework Directive in 5 of its federal regions. The Court rejects Germany’s argumentation according its settled case-law that a Member State may not plead situations in its internal legal order, including those resulting from its federal organization.
* C-33/05, Commission vs. Belgium
ECJ 15-12-2005, nyr, not yet available in English
The ECJ has also condamned Belgium for not having implemented the Water Framework Directive the region of Walloon and Brussels-City.
* C-26/04, Commission vs. Spain
ECJ 15-12-2005, nyr, not yet available in English
Spain has failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 5 of Directive 79/923/EEC on the quality required of shellfish waters as it has failed to adopt a pollution reduction programme for the shellfish waters of the Ría de Vigo
Added to Legislation, Waste:
* Parliament and Council Directive 2005/64/EC of 26 October 2005 on the type-approval of motor vehicles with regard to their reusability, recyclability and recoverability and amending Council Directive 70/156/EEC
While seeking type approval for new passenger cars and light vans, manufacturers have to demonstrate that components are reusable and materials are recyclable and recoverable to levels required by the 2000 end-of-life vehicles (ELV) directive 2000/53/EC. From 15 December 2006, the transposition deadline, member states must not block type approval of a new vehicle that complies with the directive. From 15 December 2008 they must refuse type approval of a new vehicle that does not comply with it. From 15 December 2010 they must refuse registration, sale or entry into service of new vehicles that do not comply. The standards to be achieved under the directive are minimum 85% reusability/recyclability and 95% reusability/recoverability. The ELV directive requires actual reuse, recycling and recovery rates to reach these levels from January 2015.
Added to Legislation, Dangerous Substances:
* Parliament and Council Directive 2005/59/EC of 26 October 2005 amending for the 28th time Council Directive 76/769/EEC on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States relating to restrictions on the marketing and use of certain dangerous substances and preparations (toluene and trichlorobenzene)
The directive bans health damaging solvents toluene and trichlorobenzene from many applications as of 15 June 2007. The law prohibits toluene in adhesives and spray paints intended for use by the public. It bans all use of trichlorobenzene, except as a chemical intermediate, as a process solvent in certain closed reactions, and in the manufacture of munitions agent TATB.
Added to Legislation, Air:
* Commission Directive 2005/78/EC of 14 November 2005 implementing Directive 2005/55/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the measures to be taken against the emission of gaseous and particulate pollutants from compression-ignition engines for use in vehicles, and the emission of gaseous pollutants from positive ignition engines fuelled with natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas for use in vehicles and amending Annexes I, II, III, IV and VI thereto
A directive on heavy-duty vehicle emissions implements technical aspects of another above-mentioned directive passed earlier this year. The laws aim to ensure that vehicles are fitted with on-board diagnostic systems and exhaust after-treatment and that these are durable and operate properly over time. The directive’s transposition deadline is 8 November 2006.
Added to Legislation, General:
* Commission Decision 2005/844/Euratom of 25 November 2005 concerning the accession of the European Atomic Energy Community to the Convention on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident
Considering that twenty-four Member States (including all “old” Member States) are contracting parties to the Convention on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident, the decision was taken that the European Atomic Energy Community should also accede to the above-mentioned Convention. See for the text of the Convention Legislation, International Agreements
* Commission Decision 2005/845/Euratom of 25 November 2005 concerning the accession of the European Atomic Energy Community to the Convention on Assistance in the case of a Nuclear Accident or Radiological Emergency
Considering that twenty-three Member States (including all “old” Member States) are parties to the Convention on Assistance in the case of a Nuclear Accident or Radiological Emergency, the European Atomic Energy Community should also accede to the above-mentioned Convention. See for the text of the Convention: Legislation, International Agreements
Added to Legislation, International Agreements:
* Convention On Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident
This Convention applies in the event of any accident involving facilities or activities of a State Party or of persons or legal entities under its jurisdiction or control, from which a release of radioactive material occurs or is likely to occur and which has resulted or may result in an international transboundary release that could be of radiological safety significance for another State.
* Convention On Assistance In The Case Of A Nuclear Accident Or Radiological
Emergency
The States Parties to the Convention shall cooperate between themselves and with the International Atomic Energy Agency in accordance with the provisions of this Convention to facilitate prompt assistance in the event of a nuclear accident or radiological emergency to minimize its consequences and to protect life, property and the environment from the effects of radioactive releases.
Added to Dossiers/Links, Environmental council Conclusions:
* 2697th ENVIRONMENT Council meeting – Brussels – 2 December 2005
The Council reached a partial political agreement on a draft regulation establishing the EU Financial instrument for the environment – LIFE +. The Council adopted a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the establishment of a European pollutant release and transfer register (PRTR) and adopted a decision on the conclusion, on behalf of the European Community, of the United Nations-Economic Commission for Europe (UN-ECE) Protocol on pollutant release and transfer registers (PRTR).
Added to Policy Areas, Climate Change:
* Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Change in Europe (EEA Technical report No 7/2005)
The report shows that in Europe mountain regions, coastal zones, wetlands and the Mediterranean region are particularly vulnerable to climate change. Although there could be some positive effects, many impacts are likely to be adverse. Existing adaptive measures are concentrated in flood defense, so there is considerable scope for adaptation planning and implementation in other areas, such as public health, water resources and management of ecosystems.
* Annual European Community CLRTAP emission inventory 1990-2003 (EEA Technical report No 6/2005)
This report t is the annual European Community CLRTAP emission inventory presenting the European Community air pollution data from the years 1990 to 2003. The report provides an overview of emission trends and data availability for EU-25; NFR Tables IV 1A are provided for EU-15 only. Due to data gaps, EU-15 totals were estimated for NOX, CO, NMVOCs, SOX and NH3 only. Data reported for particulate matter (PM), persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and heavy metals (HM) are presented in Annex F.
Added to Policy Areas, Water:
* Source apportionment of nitrogen and phosphorus inputs into the aquatic environment (EEA Report No 7/2005)
Eutrophication is the excessive enrichment of waters with nutrients and the associated adverse biological effects, and it is still one of the major environmental problems across Europe. European waters are affected across the whole range from inland water bodies such as groundwater, rivers and lakes, to transitional and coastal waters and ecosystems in open seas. Eutrophication is caused by large anthropogenic inputs of the nutrients nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) to the aquatic environment from a range of societal sectors.
Added to Policy Areas, Sustainable development:
* The European Paper Industry Delivering Competitiveness And Sustainability
EU paper industry association CEPI launched its second sustainability report on 1 December. Use of recovered fibre in paper production rose by 4% in 2004, up by more than two percentage points from the previous year. CO2 emissions fell 26% between 1990 and 2003, while water and specific energy consumption decreased by 40% and 11% respectively.
Added to Policy Areas, Nature Communications:
* Commission Communication Biomass action plan, COM(2005) yyy final
According to Commission’s estimates, implementation of the proposed action plan would increase biomass energy production from 69 million tonnes oil equivalent (mtoe) to 150 mtoe by 2010, which, among other, would cut EU energy imports from 48% to 42%. Main targets of the document are: a) sectoral legislation, possibly including measures to ensure suppliers make biomass fuels available, efficiency criteria for biomass and biomass installations and equipment labelling rules; b) transport biofuels, with regard to current limits on blending of ethanol with petrol, working towards certification that biofuels have been produced sustainably, and creating “balanced” rules on biofuel imports. Among other actions are steps to encourage use of waste as fuel, European standards for solid biomass fuels and encouragement for national biomass energy plans.
Added to Upcoming Events:
* 2-3 February 2006, REACH – A New EU Chemicals Policy, Trier, Germany
REACH – a single, integrated system for Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals. The conference organised by ERA aims to analyse the REACH proposal in-depth, not only on the political but also on the legal level, in order to contribute to the development of this important piece of European legislation. Registration before 23 December 2005 brings a special 15% discount. Click here for more information.
* 8 February 2006, The EU Emission Trading Scheme: One Year On, Leuven, Belgium
Institute of Environmental and Energy Law, K.U. Leuven organizes this event in collaboration with Institute for Transnational Legal Research, Universiteit Maastricht. See for more information the conference leaflet.
Added to Job postings:
* Manager Member Relations
The European Business Council for Sustainable Energy (e5) is an initiative representing future-oriented businesses at the fore of economic and technological leadership in the EU. These businesses are dedicated to create employment opportunities, develop export markets and secure a reliable energy supply. e5 promotes a new economical rationale embodied by the Kyoto Protocol – where climate is business. E5 is looking for someone to manage the e5 member relations. Responsibilities: broadening member network, acquiring new members; maintaining existing member network by phone contacts and mailings; evaluating and prioritising member interest; upholding member database. Qualifications: professional acquisition skills; pioneering spirit and excellent communication skills; friendly phone voice; interest in sustainable energy issues; experienced in using internet/e-Mail and MS-office; willingness to travel; German native speaker, with good English proficiency. Job organisation: freelance; 3-4 days/week (full or part-time); home office with reporting to e5 head office in Bad Vilbel. e5 offers: 1.500 EUR salary plus success fee; challenging position in fast growing market; qualified team of colleagues; steep learning curve. Starting date: January 1, 2006. Further details: http://www.e5.org; for inquiries or to apply: CV and covering letter to rothweiler@e5.org.
Updates:
* REACH Dossier
Information of break-through Council negotiations on 13 December 2005.
* European Climate Policy Dossier
Report on Montreal climate change talks.
* National Pages: the Netherlands and to Dossiers, Packaging
News on possible introduction of a mandatory refund system for cans and small plastic bottles due to the fact that too much waste ending up in the streets and in nature.
* National Pages: Ireland
Possible implication of an ECJ ruling in Case 320/03 Commission v. Austria (sectoral prohibition on road transport by lorries of over 7.5 tonnes) on Irish heavy goods transportation.
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Editors-in-Chief:
Wybe Th. Douma (T.M.C. Asser Institute, The Hague)
Jens Hamer (Academy of European Law, Trier)
Editor:
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