Recalling that the Commission’s first proposal on this issue had been withdrawn in 1996 after Parliament’s rejection of the Council’s common position, the rapporteur considered that the new proposal was a vast improvement. She also stressed that illegal landfills were a Europe-wide problem. In this respect, Mrs Jackson cited the cases of Portugal and Greece and highlighted the problems in Germany posed by storage in old abandoned mines. Commissioner Bjerregaard accepted 16 of Parliament’s amendments but rejected Amendments Nos 2, 3, 7, 12, 16, 23, 25, 27, 30, 31, 33 and 36.