German law on recycling sparks row in Commission

Date: 10/02/2000

By Renée Cordes

AN INTERNAL battle is raging within the European Commission over whether it should pursue legal action against Germany over national legislation requiring most drinks to be sold in refillable containers.

The case is seen as a crucial test of the balance to be struck between measures designed to protect the environment and ensuring the free movement of goods in the single market.

Officials in the Commission's environment directorate-general are recommending that the EU executive drop the case, arguing that the measures are effective in reducing packaging waste and do not constitute a barrier to trade.

But single market officials insist that the Commission should take Berlin to court, claiming that rules requiring that 72% of all beverage containers must be reusable and that deposits be paid on non-reusable bottles and cans are obstacles to the free movement of goods.

"This is a typical case involving the grey area between environmental protection and the internal market," said one Commission official.

The institution has already sent two warning letters to Germany over the case, and its experts are due to meet later this week to consider whether to move to the next stage of legal proceedings. A final decision is expected at a meeting of the Commission's infringements committee later this month.

The dispute comes as Environment Commissioner Margot Wallström is putting the finishing touches to proposals for tough new EU-wide recycling and reuse targets for paper, glass and other kinds of packaging to replace the hotchpotch of national measures introduced by member states.

The move to revise existing Union legislation introduced in 1994 is seen as vital by industry to clarify the rules governing packaging waste.

As companies wait for the Commission to come forward with concrete proposals, European drinks, can and bottle manufacturers are stepping up pressure on the EU executive to pursue the case against Germany.

More than a dozen industry groups representing mineral-water exporters, retailers, aluminium-packaging producers and major German retailers and brewers have written to the institution since the beginning of the year urging it press ahead with legal action.

They claim that the German rules do constitute a barrier to trade. "A conversion to refillable packaging would scarcely be feasible for foreign wine-growers, brewers, mineral springs and fruit juice producers, since the costs of retransporting used bottles over a large distance - would be unbearably high," warned German retail giant Metro in a letter to Industry Commissioner Erkki Liikanen late last month.

"It will really slow down cross-border trade," said Helen Benson, an environmental affairs expert at EU soft drinks association UNESDA.

Industry groups also argue that it would be inconsistent for the Commission to drop its objections to the German law after launching legal proceedings against Denmark last year in a similar case involving Copenhagen's ban on the use of metal drinks cans. Danish officials argue that the measure has been successful in reducing waste, with consumers returning about 99% of all bottles for reuse.

An internal battle is raging within the European Commission over whether it should pursue legal action against Germany over national legislation requiring most drinks to be sold in refillable containers. The case is seen as a crucial test of the balance to be struck between measures designed to protect the environment and ensuring the free movement of goods in the single market.