Packaging Waste Directive
16 November 2004
Today, Jim Allister made the following speech in the European Parliament
Allister (NI). – Mr President, in noting the delay in the implementation of the packaging waste directive that the accession states are to be allowed, I wish to say that, from our experience in Northern Ireland, they are fortunate to escape its requirements for several years. Under this directive, draconian regulations have been imposed on Northern Ireland. We now have the ludicrous requirement that a DIY retailer, for example, who buys in packaged goods and sells them on, is required to make returns detailing the net weight of the packaging of all such goods passing through his business, even though he never opens or discards any of the packaging. He is then liable to what amounts to a waste tax for merely handling the goods and, in addition, has to waste time and effort on trying to assess the weight of the packaging. I am therefore glad that the accession states are being spared this lunacy.
I note with some surprise that the Republic of Ireland, although a long-established EU Member State, has also been permitted to defer full compliance until the beginning of 2012. Sadly, the United Kingdom did not seek equal derogation, so we are beset with the foolish regulations I have described.
I am also somewhat surprised that the last speaker seems ignorant of the fact that there are different provisions in the Republic of Ireland and that it has been granted an extension and deferment until the end of 2011. Perhaps if she concentrated more on the documents, rather than speaking in a language that no one cares to understand, she might not have made such a fundamental mistake.
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