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REPORT (COM(2023)0063 – C90016/2023 – 2023/0025(COD))

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)

A-9-2023-0311

Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety · Rapporteur: Anna Zalewska

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Written by a language model from the full text only; every figure comes from the text. The paragraph links open the paragraph a statement rests on — check the text itself before relying on it.

Parliament's amended version of the Commission proposal to amend Directive 2012/19/EU on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). It adds new recitals on legal certainty, photovoltaic panels and consumer costs, and new rules on financing historical waste. It requires the Commission to assess by 31 December 2026 whether the directive needs revision, covering legal certainty, the waste hierarchy, consumer costs, enforcement and a new photovoltaic panels category. It changes the financing rules for historical waste so that producers finance waste from equivalent replacement products, while users other than private households finance other historical waste, excluding photovoltaic panels. It gives member states 18 months after entry into force to bring national law into line with the directive.

Committee position. The rapporteur proposes to amend the Commission proposal to implement the Court judgment fully, add clarity and consistency, and stress legal certainty and prevention of unjustified retroactivity. She keeps the Commission's changes to Article 12 and extends the transposition period to 18 months.

Key points

  1. A new recital states that a member state law contrary to an EU directive adopted before that directive does not itself breach EU law.
  2. A new recital calls for preventing unjustified retroactive effects in future revisions and for clarity and predictability for electrical and electronic equipment producers.
  3. A new recital calls for environmentally sound management of waste photovoltaic panels and open scope WEEE, and lets member states encourage producers to collect and treat historical waste.
  4. A new recital says the costs of managing WEEE must not be disproportionately transferred to consumers or citizens, in line with the polluter pays principle.
  5. A new Article 2a requires the Commission to assess by 31 December 2026 the need to revise the directive, with a socio-economic and environmental impact assessment.
  6. The assessment must cover legal certainty, the waste hierarchy, consumer costs, enforcement and collection targets, illegal trade, and a new photovoltaic panels category with collection targets based on projected lifetime.
  7. Article 13(1) is amended so producers finance historical waste from equivalent replacement products, and member states may make non-household users partly or fully responsible.
  8. Article 13(1) is further amended so users other than private households finance other historical waste, excluding photovoltaic panels.
  9. Member states must bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions needed to comply with the directive within 18 months of its entry into force.

Who is affected

  • Producers of electrical and electronic equipment, who finance historical waste from equivalent replacement products.
  • Users other than private households, who may be made responsible for financing historical waste.
  • Member states, which must transpose the directive within 18 months and ensure environmentally sound management of related WEEE.
  • The Commission, which must assess the need for a revision by 31 December 2026.

Figures and deadlines

  • 31 December 2026: deadline for the Commission to assess the need for a revision of the directive.
  • 13 August 2012: date before which waste photovoltaic panels were placed on the market.
  • 15 August 2018: date before which open scope electrical and electronic equipment was placed on the market.
  • 18 months after entry into force: deadline for member states to comply with the directive.

Legal basis: Article 294(2) and Article 192(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.