WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1884/97 by Amedeo AMADEO to the Commission. Waste management
22. 1. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 21/109 In his closing address at the conference on the future of the social dialogue held on 28-29 April 1997, the Member of the Commission responsible for social affairs reiterated the importance of the sectoral social dialogue and confirmed the Commission’s desire to support it. Some 20 sectors have developed Community-level dialogue, through joint committees or informal working parties. They receive substantial financial and logistical support from the Commission, which organises around 150 sectoral social dialogue meetings each year. Furthermore, budget heading B3-4000 includes an amount of ECU 5 million for 1997 for funding measures to promote the development of the social dialogue at both sectoral and cross-industrial level. In its Communication concerning the development of the social dialogue at Community level, the Commission refers to the need to seek ways of improving the operation and results of the sectoral social dialogue whilst promoting the more efficient use of resources. Consequently, the Commission suggests that the sectoral social dialogue should focus on strategic sectors and issues, with the strengthening of cooperation and coordination within the Commission in respect of consultation procedures. These various aspects will be the subject of the second Communication on the development of the social dialogue at Community level. (98/C 21/218) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1884/97 by Amedeo Amadeo (NI) to the Commission (2 June 1997) Subject: Waste management With reference to the Commissionís Communication on the review of the Community Strategy for Waste Managementí and the ádraft Council Resolution on waste policyí (COM(96) 0399 final), will the Commission make a greater commitment to developing more incisive and effective measures for monitoring and verifying the Member Statesí progress in implementing Community legislation by launching specific programmes for investigations and studies where necessary? Answer given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission (4 July 1997) The Commission shares the Honourable Member’s view on the importance of monitoring and verifying the Member States’ progress in implementing Community waste legislation. On 22 October 1996 the Commission adopted a communication on implementing Community environmental law (1), the aim of which was to reinforce the obligations which different actors in the regulatory chain (the Commission, Member States, regional and local authorities, industry, citizens and non-governmental organisa- tions) bear in the áshared responsibility’ for the application of Community environmental law, in order to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of environmental policy and law and improve the quality of the environment in Europe. Proper application of Community waste legislation depends largely on the national, regional and local authorities taking a range of measures to deal with the many applications for authorisation, to grant authorisation in accordance with statutory conditions, to encourage economic operators to comply with the conditions of authorisation and to adopt the necessary corrections or penalties. Most problems in the waste sector relate to Member States’ failure to apply measures. Accordingly, the Commission has instituted, or is about to institute, many infringement proceedings to ensure the legislation is complied with. (1) COM (96) 500