The Committee on the Environment adopted the draft recommandation of Mr. Vertemati (I, PES). The current situation in Europe in the field of package and packaging waste is hardly acceptable. The directive needs to enter into force as soon as possible to prevent any further divergence between the countries which have already introduced national measures and those which have not yet done so.
The provisions that some member states have implemented are laudable in aim, they have in many cases created difficulties for the recycling industries in other areas.
The rapporteur expects that the directive will promode fairer competition in the internal market, since the existence of so many disparate national provisions inevitably has lead to market distortion. Mr. VERTEMATI points out that the common position includes improvements, for example provisions for the prevention of packaging waste. But the common position does not go far enough and therefore most of the amendments at first reading have been retabled and again adopted.