L 31/32 Official Journal of the European Union 6.2.2003 COMMISSION DECISION of 29 January 2003 confirming measures notified by Belgium pursuant to Article 6(6) of Directive 94/62/EC of the European Parliament and the Council on packaging and packaging waste (notified under document number C(2003) 361) (Only the Dutch and French texts are authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (2003/82/EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Directive 94/62[EC of the European Parlia- ment and the Council of 20 December 1994 on packaging and packaging waste ('), and in particular Article 6(6) thereof, Having consulted the Committee set up under Article 21 of Directive 94/62/EC, Whereas: I. PROCEDURE 1. Directive 94/62/EC Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste, based on Article 95 (ex Article 100a) of the Treaty, aims to harmo- nise national measures concerning the management of packa- ging and packaging waste in order to prevent any impact thereof on the environment or to reduce such impact, thus providing a high level of environmental protection, and to ensure the functioning of the internal market and to avoid obstacles to trade as well as distortions and restrictions of competition within the Community. To this end, Article 6(1) of the Directive lays down, inter alia, quantified targets to be achieved by Member States for recovery and recycling of packa- ging waste. Article 6(1)(a) of the Directive establishes that, no later than 30 June 2001, between 50 % as a minimum and 65% as a maximum by weight of the packaging waste will be recovered. Pursuant to Article 6(1)(b), within this general target, and within the same time limit, between 25 % as a minimum and 45 % as a maximum by weight of the totality of packaging materials contained in packaging waste will be recycled, with a minimum of 15 % by weight for each packaging material. Article 6(6) of the Directive introduces a monitoring procedure to ensure coherence between the different strategies chosen by Member States, particularly with a view to ensure that targets () OJ L 365, 31.12.1994, p. 10. set in one Member State do not hinder compliance by other Member States with the Directive or represent distortions of the internal market. Under that provision, the Commission is to confirm such measures after appropriate verification. 2. The measure notified 2.1. Background In Belgium, the Federal State is competent to transpose Direc- tive 94/62/EC as regards product-related issues (such as, for instance, Article 9 and Annex II). The fixing of targets for recovery and recycling of the packaging materials contained in the packaging waste, as laid down in Article 6 of Directive 94/ 62[EC, comes into the exclusive competence of the Regions. In order to ensure a coherent and consistent transposition and implementation of Directive 94/62/EC and in particular its Article 6, the three Belgian Regions concluded a Cooperation Agreement on the prevention and management of packaging waste on 30 May 1996 (hereinafter Cooperation Agree- ment) (%). Article 3(2) of the Cooperation Agreement of 1996 contained the following recycling and recovery targets to be achieved by the concerned economic operators, in each of the three Regions, i.c. Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels, both as regards household packaging waste and industrial packaging waste: Minimum . li te b Recycling Recovery rxifce}ilg}i?%orraeeachy packaging waste 1998 Minimum: Minimum: 15% 45 % 70 % 1999 Minimum: Minimum: 15% 50 % 80 % () It sets out the obligation for economic operators (packaging fillers and users, including importers in case the packaging was filled outside Belglum) to take-back and recycle[recover the packaging materials contained in the packaging waste put on the market (Article 6 of the Cooperation Agreement), either individually or by contractmg a third party ( Artlcﬁes 7(1) of the Cooperation Agree- ment to achieve quantified targets for recycling and recovery (Artlcle 3(2) of the Cooperation Agreement).