L 257/20 Official Journal of the European Communities 2.10.1999 COMMISSION DECISION of 15 September 1999 confirming the 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(1999) 2919) (Only the Dutch text is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (1999/652/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 (1), and in particular Article 6(6) thereof, Having consulted the Committee set up by Directive 94/62/EC, Whereas: I. PROCEDURE 1. Directive 94/62[EC Directive 94/62[EC, based on Article 95 (ex Article 100a) of the Treaty, aims to harmonise national measures concerning the management of packaging 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, quanti- fied targets to be achieved by Member States for recovery and recycling of packaging waste. Article 6(1)(a) 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) introduces a monitoring procedure to ensure coherence between the different strategies chosen by Member States, particularly with a view to ensure that targets set in one Member State do not hinder compliance by other Member States with the Directive or represent distortions of the internal market. () O] L 365, 31.12.1994, p. 10. Under that provision, the Commission is to confirm such measures after appropriate verification. 2. The measures notified On 13 July 1996 Belgian authorities notified to the Commis- sion, in the context of the procedure established by Council Directive 83/189/EC (%), a draft Cooperation Agreement on the prevention and management of packaging waste (notification 96/240/B). In Belgium, the Federal State has only competence to transpose Directive 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 deemed it necessary to conclude the Cooperation Agreement on the prevention and management of packaging waste. This Agreement is a legally binding act and constitutes the transposition measure as regards Article 6 of Directive 94/62/EC. This Cooperation Agreement sets out the obligation for economic operators (packaging fillers and users, including importers in case the packaging was filled outside Belgium) to takeback and recycle/ recover the packaging materials contained in the packaging waste put on the market (Article 6 of the Cooperation Agree- ment), either individually or by contracting a third party (Articles 7(1) of the Cooperation Agreement), and to achieve quantified targets for recycling and recovery (Article 3(2) of the Cooperation Agreement). Economic operators shall communi- cate to the Interregional Commission for Packaging how they intend to fulfil such an obligation. For household packaging, this is without prejudice of the rights of the competent public authorities in charge of waste collection in public streets. The Interregional Commission shall evaluate and, if appropriate, approve or refuse the way by which economic operators intend to fulfil their obligation set out in Article 6 of the Cooperation Agreement (Article 7(2) of the Cooperation Agreement). Economic operators can be relieved from the obligation to take back and recyclefrecover packaging, by signing a () OJ L 109, 26.4.1983, p. 8. Directive as amended by Directive 98/ 34/EC (O] L 204, 21.7.1998, p. 37).