18 Amendments of Judith A. MERKIES related to 2001/2038(INI)
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas petitions on the basic protection of environmental and health issues consistently constitute the primary group of petitions received and those on waste represent an important sub-group, and concern about waste affectsing citizens very directly and all over the EU, notably as regards theo European Union law on basic protection of public health and the environment permitting procedure for new waste management facilities or the operation of existing ones, followed by concerns about the overall management of waste,;
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L
Recital L
L. whereas a lack of financial resources and inefficient administrative procedures are two of the main reasons for failure to establish a waste management plan in compliance with the WFD,there are several reasons for failing to establish a waste management plan in compliance with the WFD, these reasons include a lack of: implementation and enforcement, properly trained personnel at local and regional level, coordination at national level, a fine system as well as inadequate controls at the EU level;
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital N
Recital N
N. whereas the technology to harness biowaste management in the EU is still in its relavailable and has found applicativeon infancy and the Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands, current legislative instruments need to be developed and techniques made more efficient,to allow bio waste to become part of the bio based economy;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital T
Recital T
T. whereas monitoring and control procedures in place to ensure that household waste is not contaminated by toxic waste are sometimes weak or non- existent, leading to contamination of landfills and incinerators; whereas it must be stressed that disposing of toxic waste through incineration in installations conceived for burning household waste is categorically prohibited,
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital AT
Recital AT
AT. whereas public authorities often choosdue to the establishment of incinerators inhabitants of the areas already suffering from heavy air pollution for the establishment of incinerator concerned about the effects of emissions, whereas cumulative effects on the health of the inhabitants of the area should not be ignored and whereas in some cases the exploration of alternative methods of disposal of waste and production of energy through methanisation is often neglected,have a low priority;
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Calls on Member States to transpose the WFD without further delay and to ensure full compliance with all its requirements, in particular establishing and implementing comprehensive waste management plans, including the timely conversion of all the set goals within the framework of European legislation;
Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Calls upon public authorities to recognise that major investments are required to establish correct waste management strategies, infrastructure and facilities in most Member States, and believes that they should give consideration to earmarking an appropriate proportion of Cohesion Fund resources for this purpose or seeking direct financing from the European Investment Bankare capable of financing such investments on their own through the possible introduction of an additional tax on waste collection;
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls on the Commission for more specific guidance to be provided for competent authorities in order to assist them with the correct implementation of the waste acquis and suggests creating benchmark tools for the Member States, for example to show how many civil servants are needed in each sector, but notes that the resources available at European level are currently inadequate; considers, therefore, that complementary financial and administrative measures should be taken at national level and to provide better guidance and training facilities for officials working in the waste sector;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls upon the Commission to identify and focus on the more systemic weaknesses st common problems regarding implementation of waste- related directives by Member States, such as inadequate networks of waste management facilities, excessive reliance on land filling or poor recycling rates as well as a lack of: implementation and enforcement, properly trained staff at local and regional level, coordination at national level, a fine system as well as inadequate controls at the EU level;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Believes that the establishment of a new EU Agency for waste management is not desirable and considers that the present institutional structure at EU level – based upon the Commission's DG Environment and the European Environment Agency as a centre of expertise and excellence – is more cost-effective, although these must be further reinforced in order to provide mor means to improve active oversight and enforcement must be further investigated;
Amendment 49 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Considers that closer cooperation between authorities at local, regional and regnational level has the potential to deliver positive results in terms of identifying models of best practice; notes that the Committee of the Regions, Europol, the European Union Network for the Implementation and Enforcement of Environmental Law, Municipal Waste Europe and FEAD, the European Federation representing the waste management industry, could play a more useful role in organising such exchanges and thus also help to build trust among the populations affected by essential waste policy implementation;
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Proposes a new format to deal with waste management related petitions within the Petitions Committee as well as the European Parliament so as to facilitate and improve citizens' participation in and understanding of the waste process, and considers that this may assist Member States' efforts to increase waste management practices significantly and quickly; after the petitions have been declared admissible, gone through a hearing, a possible fact-finding mission as well as report and presentation of the mission; the petitions will be sent to the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee in the European Parliament and discussed once a year at a joint committee hearing in the presence of the European Commissioner for Environment; the conclusions of the joint-committee hearing will be debated in plenary once a year to discuss the environmental worries of the European citizen in the presence of the Environment Commissioner;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Encourages early and effective dialogue between responsible local and reg, regional, national and international authorities and local citizens in the planning stages before decisions are taken on the construction of waste treatment installations;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Urges the Commission to propose clearer and more specific criteria for the location of landfills and incinerators in relation to local housing, schools or health facilities in order to ensure more robust guarantees against potential risks to human health and the environment; bearing in mind that there are a large number of variables and local considerations that need to be taken into account with full respect for the subsidiarity principle;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Recommends the imposition of adequate and dissuasive fines and penalties for the illegal disposal of waste, especially toxic and hazardous waste, partly to compensate for environmental damage in accordance with the polluter-pays all principle;