The EU Waste Shipment Regulation and the need for better enforcement

Abstract

The European Community regulation on shipments of waste which was adopted in May 2006 is now in application since 12 July 2007. Although one of the more voluminous instruments of EU environmental law – with 64 articles and 9 annexes – it was intended as a means of better legislation in comparison with the old Waste Shipment Regulation dating from 1993. The main purpose of the revision was to transpose recent changes of international law into EU legislation, as well as to harmonise, restructure and streamline the legal text in order to achieve greater clarity. Another objective, not least due to later insertions by the European Parliament during legislative proceedings, was to strengthen effective enforcement on various levels. However, against a rising tide of waste shipments or dubious “used goods” ending up as waste in developing countries, the EU regulation has yet to prove that it is an effective instrument of environmental protection on an international scale.