Updating of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive was discussed in the session. The aim of this directive is to prevent production of waste electrical and electronic equipment, enhancing their re-utilisation, recycling and other forms of recovery in order to reduce disposal of such waste. There have been active discussions on a re-worded draft of the directive on waste electrical and electronic equipment in several work groups, mainly on the scope of the directive, limits of waste collection, and the targets of re-utilization and recycling. The presidency presented a compromise package on the draft to the Council, including a Commission review of the scope after the three-year implementation period of the directive, making the scope more open after a six-year transition period and gradual achievement of the re-utilization and recycling targets of waste electrical and electronic equipment. After long discussions, the Member States, including Estonia, were willing to agree with the proposals made by the presidency in the name of political agreement. One of the most important interests of Estonia was the opening of the draft scope, that is, involving all electrical and electronic equipment that are in compliance with the notion of electrical and electronic equipment and the exceptions would have been stated in the list of exclusions. Collection of equipment used in households and in most industries helps to achieve the waste electronic equipment collection target. It also significantly reduces the expenses of the local governments and the State in collection and further handling of waste electronic equipment. During the six-year transmission period to open scope, the scope of the directive remains the same as in the current directive. Negotiations with the European Parliament on adoption of this draft will continue in the autumn. In addition, conclusions on the follow-up actions of the Cancun Climate Convention were accepted in the session. The European Union wishes to achieve an international agreement on the objectives of reducing climate change in this year’s meeting in Durban, the Republic of South Africa. The main discussions concentrated on the wording, as to achieving this agreement as the second obligation period of the Kyoto Protocol or as a common legally binding agreement. Also, the draft of the European Parliament and of the Council was discussed as to the directive that allows the Member States to restrict or ban the growth of GMOs on their territories. The presidency assured its commitment to processing this draft, cooperation with the legal service of the Commission and the Council, and invited the Member States to continue their discussions in a work group. The Commission announced that a report on the social-economic impact of the GMOs will be published next month. Among others topics, there was a discussion on the objectives of the common agricultural policy (CAP) for 2020, trying to solve the future problems related to food, natural resources and territories. A common opinion was expressed that the CAP can help to protect the environment via support aimed to Natura areas that protect water and soil and ensure preservation of biological diversity. In addition, the Commission proposed to make sustainable use of natural resources and activities related to climate change the second important priority of the CAP. |
