Directive (EU) 2024/884

What it is

amend Directive 2012/19/EU on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) following the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union in case C-181/20. PROPOSED ACT: Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council. ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council. BACKGROUND: Directive 2012/19/EU on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) entered into force on 13 August 2012, replacing Directive 2002/96/EC. Photovoltaic panels, which were not in the scope of Directive 2002/96/EC, were included in the scope of Directive 2012/19/EU from 13 August 2012. The Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety adopted the report by Anna ZALEWSKA (ECR, PL) on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2012/19/EU on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). As a reminder, the proposal seeks to amend Directive 2012/19/EU on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) following the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union in case C-181/20. The committee recommended that the European Parliament's first-reading position under the ordinary legislative procedure should amend the Commission's proposal as follows: - provide more clarity to the changes, where it would be useful, as the matter is not immediately obvious, as well as provide changes to other parts of the existing WEEE directive to ensure consistency and coherence; - highlight the need to respect the principle of legal certainty and introduce provisions which would ensure the prevention of future instances of unjustified retroactivity, particularly in the anticipating upcoming overall revision of the WEEE directive. In order to maintain the principle of legal certainty in the future revisions of Directive 2012/19/EU, the report stressed that it is important to pay particular attention to preventing the adoption of any provisions that could potentially have unjustified retroactive effects. It is necessary to give clarity and predictability to EEE producers with regard to the operating conditions that were in effect when their products were placed on the market. That approach helps to avoid the risk of incurring unpredictable costs associated with future WEEE management. Furthermore, such revisions should respect the waste hierarchy as laid down in Article 4 of Directive 2008/98/EC. The amended text stipulated that no later than 31 December 2026, the Commission should assess the need for a revision of this Directive and, where appropriate, present a legislative proposal in that respect, accompanied by a thorough socio-economic and environmental impact assessment. In the impact assessment, the Commission should in particular assess the following: - provisions which specifically ensure that the principle of legal certainty is adhered to and that there is no provision that could entail unjustified retroactive effect in any Member State; - provisions to ensure the implementation of the waste hierarchy as laid down in Article 4 of Directive 2008/98/EC; - provisions to…

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