* As of 1 August 2002, Ms. Alena Dodokova (Institute for Environmental Policy, Prague) joined the team preparing this Newsletter. It will appear approximately every 2 weeks like it used to in the past. We apologise for the long interruption, and are confident that the new collaboration will bring you the information stream that you were used to.
News at the European Environmental Law home page:
Added to Case Law Page:
* Case C-314/99, ECJ 18 June 2002, The Netherlands v Commission Permission given to Austria and Sweden to restrict cadmium use and marketing more than allowed for under EU-wide rules was overturned. The two countries will need to introduce less strict rules, until new EC legislation enters into force which will probably allow them to re-introduce their stricter rules. The Netherlands had sought to prevent this by asking for a limitation of the temporal effects of an annulment, but this part of the Dutch claim was not awarded.
* Case C-159/00, ECJ 6 June 2002, Sapod Audic and Eco-Emballages SA National courts have to decide for themselves whether the country’s legislation on the use of the green dot system amounted to a requirement for the green dot symbol to be applied under Directive 83/189 – in which case notification is required. Alternatively, the information requirements of the general waste Directive 75/442 as amended by 91/156 are applicable.
The ECJ also discusses the possibility that a general obligation to identify the packaging collected for disposal by an approved undertaking could form a selling arrangement.
We would like to remind you of the fact that the caselaw database has been added to the services provided for by the EEL-website. You can find this caselaw database on the home page.
Added to the Conferences Page:
* 26-30 August 2002, Environmental Management Systems Auditor Training Course, Brussels, Organized by: Enhesa – Environmental Policy Centre (EPC)
* 20-21 September 2002, EEB Seminar: New Chances for Better Enforcement of EU Environmental Legislation, Brussels, Belgium, for more information: http://www.eeb.org/
* 22-24 September 2002, Schutz der Umwelt durch und vor Biotechnologie, Trier, IUTR
* 25-26 September 2002, Het nationale afvalcongres, Amsterdam, Euroforum.
Meer informatie: http://www.afvalcongres.nl
* 21-23 October 2002, Business, the Global Sustainability agent, 3rd international conference on Business and Sustainable Performance, Euro Environment 2002, Aalborg, Denmark.
Added to the Vacancies Page:
Career in the European Commission
Apply for the new and upcoming ‘Environment Open Competition’ to become either an Administrator (career bracket A7/A6 with 3 years of professional
experience) or Assistant Administrator (career bracket A8 with no required professional experience); closing date for applications:27 September 2002, http://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/environment/recruitment.htm
elni Traineeship
The elni Coordinating Bureau offers the opportunity for young lawyers to work for some months in the Environmental Law Division and the elni Bureau at the Öko-Institut in Darmstadt, Germany, and to gain an insight into the work of the division,for further information see: http://www.oeko.de/elni
Added to Reviews Page:
Sheridan M. and Lavrysen L. (eds.), Environmental Law Principles in Practice (Brussels: Academia Bruylant 2002, 224 pp., paperback, ISBN 2-802-71542-9, http://www.academia-bruylant.be).
Added to the Case Law page – ECJ:
* Case C-513/99, ECJ 17 September 2002, Concordia Bus Finland Oy Ab Under strict conditions, worked out in this case, Directive 92/50 on public service contracts in the context of public contracts for the provision of urban bus transport services allows the contracting authority to award a contract to the tenderer who submits the economically most advantageous tender”taking into consideration ecological criteria such as the level of nitrogen oxide emissions or the noise level of the buses.
* Case T-13/99, CFI 11 September 2002, Pfizer Animal Health v Council This lenghty case deals with the precautionary measure to no longer allow for the use of a specific type of antibiotic in animal feed in order to protect human health. Pfizer, the producer of the antibiotic, claims that errors were made with regard to risk assessment and management, that the precautionary principle was misapplied, that the the obligation to state reasons and the principle of protection of legitimate expectations were breached. All these claims were rejected by the CFI, that went into an interesting legal argumentation on the above-mentioned principles and the wide discretion of the European authorities in decising which protective measures they want to take. Pfizer might still decide to appeal, in order to get more clarity on the boundaries of this discretion.
* Case C-314/99, ECJ 18 June 2002, Pays-Bas v Commission Permission given to Austria and Sweden to restrict cadmium use and marketing more than allowed for under EU-wide rules was overturned. The ECJ judgement concerns a 1999 adaptation of the directive on marketing and use of certain dangerous substances. This laid out EU-wide rules on cadmium plus tin and pentachlorophenol, but also included a special dispensation for Austria and Sweden to continue imposing stricter national limits on cadmium in force prior to their accession to the EU in 1995.The court has overruled the clause, finding that it should not have been introduced as an “adaptation to technical progress.”
The two countries will need to introduce less strict rules, until new EC legislation enters into force which will probably allow them to re-introduce their stricter rules. The Netherlands had sought to prevent this by asking for a limitation of the temporal effects of an annulment, but this part of the Dutch claim was not awarded.
* Case C-159/00, ECJ 6 June 2002, Sapod Audic and Eco-Emballages SA on the interpretation of Articles 1 and 10 of Council Directive 83/189/EC The ECJ ruled that national courts (French courts in this case) had to decide for themselves whether the country’s legislation on the use of the green dot system amounted to a requirement for the green dot symbol to be applied, thereby constituting a technical regulation. The national courts must also verify whether the scheme applies to all relevant traders and is therefore not a breach of the treaty.
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Editors
Wybe Douma (T.M.C. Asser Institute, The Hague) Jurgen Lefevere (FIELD, London) Alena Dodokova (Institute for Environmental Policy, Prague)
Technical realization
Marco van der Harst, Julien J.M. Simon
(T.M.C. Asser Institute, The Hague)