Danes face court battle over can ban

Date: 11/03/1999

By Renée Cordes

The European Commission looks set to take Denmark to court over its failure to implement tough single market rules on drinks containers.

Officials say Environment Commissioner Ritt Bjerregaard will press ahead with action in the European Court of Justice later this month challenging Denmark's ban on using aluminium and steel cans for soft drinks and some alcoholic beverages.

The case will be a key test of whether member states can introduce measures to protect the environment which hamper cross-border trade. It comes as the Commission is examining possible changes to the EU's packaging laws, which are at the centre of the long-running controversy.

Denmark has banned steel and aluminium cans for the past 20 years to encourage drink-makers to put their products in reusable bottles.

Danish officials claim that the measure has been successful in reducing waste, with consumers returning about 99% of all bottles for reuse. "The reason for the can ban is that the return system we have for bottles is superior from an environmental point of view," said an official at the Danish environmental protection agency. "The directive itself emphasises the principle of return and reuse systems."

Commission officials say that while the aim of the directive is to reduce the amount of packaging waste, Denmark's ban is "a barrier to free trade since these cans are marketed in all member states".

Representatives from the beverage can and soft drinks industry also claim the Danish ban hampers competition.

They argue that the measure is discriminatory since some foreign drinks-makers who would otherwise sell their products in cans have to repackage their products in bottles just for the Danish market.

"It is important that the Court draw a clear line between single market legislation and environmental protection," said Bob Schmitz, a spokesman for the Beverage Can Makers Europe, which has long been pressing the Commission to take action against Denmark and other member states with similar measures.

The group, along with the German export brewers association and the Union of National European Soft Drink Assoc-iations, has also filed a complaint with the Commission challenging a new can ban in the Canary Islands.

Meanwhile, the Commission's investigation into German laws which require drink-makers to put their products in reusable packages is continuing.