Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for certain hazardous chemicals (vote)
Johannes Blokland (IND/DEM), rapporteur. – (NL) Mr President, in 2002, Parliament and the Council agreed to change the legal basis of the regulation on the transfer of hazardous chemicals and pesticides, a follow-on from the Rotterdam Convention. An overwhelming majority in this House was in favour of the change, and even the Council agreed to it without dissent.
The Commission, however, went to the Court of Justice to fight this change, resulting in years of uncertainty for the sector, with the Court’s ruling only complicating matters even further. Parliament and the Council had selected Article 175 as the legal basis, while the Commission had opted for Article 133. The Court decided, much to the surprise of all parties involved, to adopt both articles as the legal basis.
This course of affairs is not unique, unfortunately. The Commission, Parliament and Council have failed to agree on the legal basis in various areas. Recently, there was the example of the dossier on the transport of waste substances, for which I happen to be the rapporteur.
I should like to urge the three parties to desist, in future, from thrashing these choices out in court, but instead to arrive at a solution together. The main thing is that clear policy is adopted on the choice of legal basis.
We have now had three comparable cases before the Court, which have all led to different rulings. That is hardly conducive to the consistency of legislation, and also leads to a whole procedure of repair legislation such as that on which we are about to vote.
I should therefore like to call on the Commission and Council, together with this House, to arrive at a clear procedure for selecting legal bases. That is something that can only benefit the quality of legislation.