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Environment
Hungary under fire
The European Commission has launched infringement proceedings against Hungary in relation to its packaging fee law, on the grounds that it violates Article 90 of the EC Treaty which prohibits any internal taxation that discriminates against imported goods and protects domestic products. The Commission has said that discrimination must be avoided both in law (potential impact) as well as in actual practice.According to Article 5 of the
Packaging and Packaging
Waste Directive (Directive
94/62/EC), Member States
may encourage reuse, but only
if such measures comply with
the Treaty, in this case Article
90 EC. The reuse quotas in
Hungary, which are linked to
the content (drink) of the
packaging, have been aligned
(according to the information
available) to the de facto
situation of the national
manufacturers and do not
appear to be linked to the only
possible environmental goal
that is the reduction of packaging waste. The result
is that the price of imported
beer in 0.5 litre cans is
reported to have increased
by 30%-40% and the rate of
imports has dropped.
There is a fundamental
distinction between a national tax
discriminating between domestic
and imported goods and a tax
which differentiates between
different (even competing)
products. A tax which is
discriminatory is prohibited as
such by Article 90 EC and
cannot be justified, even on
environment protection grounds.
Meanwhile, Hungary has notified
draft legislation to introduce a
certification scheme for
packaging. The Commission and
other Member States have until
23 October 2006 to comment
on the draft legislation.
