C-466/99
ECLI:EU:C:2001:466
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OPINION OF MR MISCHO — CASE C-466/99
OPINION OF ADVOCATE GENERAL MISCHO delivered on 20 September 2001 1
1. In an action brought under Article 169 of 2. Article 7(1) and (2) of Directive 75/442 the EC Treaty (now Article 226 EC), the provides: initial subject-matter of which was reduced at the reply stage, the Commission of the European Communities requests the Court to make a declaration that, by failing to forward to the Commission information concerning plans for the management and disposal of waste and hazardous waste in respect of the regions of Sicily and Basil- '1. In order to attain the objectives referred icata or information concerning plans for to in Articles 3, 4 and 5, the competent the management of packaging and packag- authority or authorities referred to in ing waste in respect of all the regions of Article 6 shall be required to draw up as Italy, the Italian Republic has failed to fulfil soon as possible one or more waste man- its obligations under Article 7 of Council agement plans. ... Directive 75/442/EEC of 15 July 1975, 2 as amended by Council Directive 91/156/EEC of 18 March 1991, on ensuring waste disposal and recovery, 3Article 6 of Coun- cil Directive 91/689/EEC of 12 December 1991 on hazardous waste, 4 as amended by Council Directive 94/31/EC of 27 June 1994, 5and Article 14 of European Parlia- 2. Member States shall collaborate as ment and Council Directive 94/62/EC of appropriate with the other Member States 20 December 1994 on packaging and concerned and the Commission to draw up packaging waste. 6 such plans. They shall notify the Commis- sion thereof.'
3. Article 2(1) of Directive 91/156, amend- 1 — Original language: French. ing Directive 75/442, leaves intact the 2 — OJ 1975 L 194, p. 39. obligation to notify and fixes a period 3 — OJ 1991 L 78, p. 32. 4 — OJ 1991 L 377, p. 20. ending 1 April 1993 for Member States to 5 — OJ 1994 L 168, p. 28. adopt the provisions necessary to comply 6 — OJ 1994 L 365, p. 10. with the Directive.
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4. Article 6 of Directive 91/689 provides: ment plans required pursuant to Article 7 of Directive 75/442/EEC, a specific chapter on the management of packaging and packaging waste ...'.
'1. As provided in Article 7 of Directivi 75/442/EEC, the competent authorities shall draw up, either separately or in the framework of their general waste manage ment plans, plans for the management of 7. Under Article 22(1) of Directive 94/62, hazardous waste and shall make these plan; Member States are to bring into force the public. measures necessary to comply with that directive before 30 June 1996 and inform the Commission thereof.
2. The Commission shall compare these plans, and in particular the methods of disposal and recovery. It shall make this information available to the competent authorities of the Member States which 8. The Italian authorities sent the Commis- ask for it.' sion a series of regional waste management plans. Since the Commission had received no plan either for the regions of Sicily and Basilicata or for the four provinces of the Tuscany region (Florence, Leghorn, Pisa and Lucca) and had found that some of the 5. Article 1 of Directive 94/31 amending plans were incomplete and finally that none Directive 91/689 leaves intact the obli- of the plans dealt with packaging and gation on Member States to notify and packaging waste, by letter dated fixes a period ending 27 June 1995 for 14 January 1998, it initiated the procedure Member States to adopt the provisions laid down in Article 169 of the Treaty by necessary to comply with the Directive. giving formal notice to the Italian auth- orities to submit their observations within a period of two months.
6. Article 14 of Directive 94/62 provides:
9. On 21 October 1998, the Commission sent a reasoned opinion to the Italian authorities, in which it specified that, since 'In pursuance of the objectives and meas- the Italian Republic had failed to adopt ures referred to in this directive, Member and, in any event, had failed to forward to States shall include in the waste manage- the Commission within the prescribed
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period the measures laid down in Article 7 Commission refers, and which requires the of Directive 75/442, Article 6 of Directive plans to be made public. 91/689 and Article 14 of Directive 94/62, the Italian Republic had failed to fulfil its obligations under those directives.
13. In any event, it is not on this ground that the Italian Government has sought to make its defence. In fact, in its defence of 10. Since there was no reaction from the 27 March 2000, although it does not Italian Government to the reasoned dispute that this situation constitutes an opinion, the Commission brought this infringement of Community law, it does action against the Italian Republic for nevertheless contest the fact that, in its failure to fulfil its obligations. In this action application, the Commission implies, as it it no longer requested the Court to make a did in the reasoned opinion, that no plan declaration that the Italian Republic had was forwarded to it, which is not true. not adopted plans, but only that it had not forwarded to the Commission information relating to the management plans presented by the three directives.
14. The merit of that assertion has been acknowledged by the Commission since, in its reply, it limited its application. As I have 11. In its application, the Commission already indicated in point 1 of this stated that although Article 6 of Directive Opinion, it maintains its claim for a 91/689 and Article 14 of Directive 94/62 declaration of infringement of Article 7 of do not set out expressly the obligation to Directive 75/442 and Article 6 of Directive forward the waste management plans, such 91/689 only in respect of the regions of an obligation can be inferred from the Sicily and Basilicata. As far as Article 14 of references made by those articles to Directive 94/62 (packaging) is concerned, it Article 7 of Directive 75/442. maintains it in respect of all the Italian regions. With respect to the situation in the regions of Calabria, Latium, Lombardy, Puglia, Sardinia, Tuscany and Veneto, which forwarded incomplete plans, the Commission states that it will be the subject of a separate examination. 12. I am able to endorse this assertion even though, with respect to Article 6 of Direc- tive 91/689, the obligation to notify appears to arise from paragraph 2, which requires the Commission to compare the management plans, a task which clearly can be carried out only after notification, 15. At the hearing, the Italian Republic rather than from paragraph 1, to which the referred to the emergency measures
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adopted in the two aforementioned regions. authorities, namely the regions. It is there- With respect to packaging and packaging fore necessary to find in favour of the waste, the attention of the Court was Commission's claims set out in its reply. drawn to a framework agreement between the national group of packaging producers and the national association of communes. This plan was said to have already been very widely applied. 17. As regards costs, it seems to me that the fact that the Commission had, in its application, wrongly charged the Italian Republic with a total failure to fulfil its 16. It is however not disputed that, at the obligations, which led it de facto to a form date of expiry of the period prescribed by of discontinuance in its reply, should result the reasoned opinion, the Italian Republic in the Italian Republic not paying all the had still not forwarded to the Commission costs. I can only state however that the all the information required by Directives Italian Republic has not applied for costs. 75/442, 91/689 and 94/62 and that the new Consequently, it cannot avoid being measures carried out with respect to pack- ordered to pay the whole of the costs aging have not been integrated into man- (Article 69(5) and (2) of the Rules of agement plans drawn up by the competent Procedure of the Court).
Conclusion
18. Having regard to the preceding considerations, I propose that the Court rule as follows:
— by failing to forward to the Commission information concerning plans for the management and disposal of waste and hazardous waste in respect of the I-855
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regions of Sicily and Basilicata, or information concerning plans for the management of packaging and packaging waste in respect of all the regions of Italy, the Italian Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 7 of Council Directive 75/442/EEC of 15 July 1975, as amended by Council Directive 91/156/EEC of 18 March 1991, on ensuring waste disposal and recovery, Article 6 of Council Directive 91/689/EEC of 12 December 1991 on hazardous waste, as amended by Council Directive 94/31/EC of 27 June 1994 and Article 14 of European Parliament and Council Directive 94/62/EC of 20 December 1994 on packaging and packaging waste;
— the Italian Republic is ordered to pay the costs.
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