The aim of this report is to inform the other Community institutions, the Member States and the public about the implementation of Directive 2000/53/EC on end-of-life vehicles over the period from 21 April 2002 to 21 April 2005 (or from 1 May 2004 to 21 April 2005 for the Member States which joined the European Community on 1 May 2004). The report was drawn up on the basis of an implementation questionnaire established by Commission Decision 2001/753/EC, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 6 of Directive 91/692/EEC. It is based on information supplied by the Member States and is accompanied by a Commission staff working document which gives more details on the information and data received from them.
All Member States have provided the Commission with details of their laws, regulations and administrative provisions introduced to comply with the Directive. Currently, infringement proceedings are in progress against 9 Member States (Belgium, Denmark, Spain, France, Italy, France, Ireland, Portugal, and the United Kingdom). Overall, although significant progress has been made in several Member States to transpose the Directive, implementation of this legislation cannot be considered fully satisfactory, as demonstrated by a number of infringement procedures concerning this waste stream. In some Member States, although the Directive has been almost literally transposed into national law, the end-of-life vehicles management systems might not be fully operational. Deficiencies in the effective functioning of waste management systems often result from the lack of enforcement rather than missing transposition of the Community legislation. This issue needs particular attention and increased monitoring both on the Community and national level. It is therefore important to step up implementation and enforcement efforts in certain Member States. The Commission will continue the conformity checks and regularly meet with the Member States in order to address any deficiencies in the implementation of Community legislation.
All Member States reported having adopted measures in line with the waste hierarchy prescribed in the Directive that promotes reuse, recycling, and recovery of vehicle components, with disposal as the last recourse. Reuse, recycling and recovery is ensured, in the first place, through measures which aim to guarantee appropriate dismantling, storage and treatment of parts and materials suitable for these treatment options. An important element of each system is the depollution of end-of-life vehicles. Other measures include steps to create markets for recyclates, including recycled content targets in new products. There are also financing schemes available in many Member States aiming to promote environmentally favourable treatment options.
All Member States confirmed that they have set in their legislation the reuse/recovery and reuse/recycling targets. In most cases, national targets literally transpose those of the Directive, with the exception of the Netherlands where the target of 95% reuse/recovery and 85% reuse/recycling was to be met until 2007 (the date is currently under revision). The parties responsible for meeting the targets include producers in cooperation with other economic operators (Finland, Hungary), economic operators (Cyprus, Italy, Malta), producers and importers (Lithuania, the Netherlands), public service providers (Slovenia), and authorised treatment facilities (Ireland). The Czech Republic, Spain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, and the United Kingdom laid down lower rates for reuse, recycling and recovery for vehicles produced before 1 January 1980, in each case being at least 75% reuse/recovery and 70% reuse/recycling. The Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Portugal, and the United Kingdom reported that the measure introducing these lower targets have been notified to the Commission, and in some cases also to the other Member States. Spain, Greece and Malta have not yet sent the official notification.
From those countries which have reported, in 2004 four Member States reached the 80% recycling target (Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden) and three met the 85% recovery target (Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden). Austria, Germany, and the United Kingdom were also close to meeting the 85% recycling target in 2004.
All Member States adopted measures concerning the use of component and material coding standards reflecting those of Commission Decision 2003/138/EC and obliged vehicle manufacturers to provide dismantling information for each type of new vehicle put on the market. Belgium, Cyprus, Germany, Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, Hungary, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, and Sweden indicated the use of the IDIS system (International Dismantling Information System) to facilitate dismantling and reuse of vehicle parts. In all Member States, there are provisions concerning dismantling, storage and testing of components suitable for reuse. Most Member States oblige vehicle producers to publish information concerning vehicle design, environmentally sound treatment, waste prevention and increased recycling and recovery.
In most Member States, no new prevention measures apart from those required by the Directive have been taken. Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden reported a number of actions taken by the vehicle industry in order to limit the use of hazardous substances and facilitate vehicle reuse, recovery and recycling. As regards the design changes in cars aimed to integrate more recyclates into vehicles, only a few Member States which have national vehicle manufacturing industry (Germany, France, and Sweden) adopted such measures.