The European Commission released a report in late 2009 stating that it would look into the possibility for the establishment of an EU-wide waste implementation agency, which would assume the role of policy and strategy maker for all EU member states waste management initiatives.
So could an EU-wide waste authority work?
Member States seem to think not. The report was met with relative indifference in the UK with Defra barely acknowledging its existence and Under-Secretary of State for Defra, Dan Norris, continuing to reiterate that waste and waste planning were “a local matter”.
However, an EU Waste Agency could potentially solve a lot of problems such as addressing the chasm between different countries’ abilities to divert waste (Germany has 1% going to landfill and Bulgaria has 99%), stopping organisational issues such as poor communication between Members States’ different national bodies with responsibilities for inspections and controls, and preventing different interpretations of the EU waste regulations along with an end to the differing levels of importance member states put upon waste management.
The study recommends the agency should carry out several enforcement tasks such as reviews of Member States’ enforcement systems, coordinated controls and inspection activities. This would be combined with the creation of a specific European body hosted by the European Commission for carrying out direct inspections and controls of sites in serious cases of non-compliance.
In addition, the study recommends that the agency should also support the Commission on updating EU legislation, generate draft guidance documents, and monitoring and assessing waste management planning and waste prevention programmes.
An EU waste agency certainly could help save money with costs of only €16m being estimated within the report, mostly for the staff and operational and building costs, funded mainly by the European Commission with some additional funding from EU Member States. Furthermore, a more uniform implementation and enforcement of EU waste legislation would bring a higher level of protection of the environment and human health which could have a further economic benefit and relieve the burden on Member states’ tax-payers.
The next step is to carry out 2010 a cost benefit analysis throughout 2010 and further steps could be proposed in 2011. So it is clear that there is still a lot of time before any real changes will happen but it is certainly a signal that the EU is taking waste management more seriously and may be a precursor for yet more powers to be transferred to Europe.
By Gareth Hill
Subscribe to our News Feed (RSS)