Waste statistics

Of the twenty-eight amendments made by the European Parliament at first reading, seven were incorporated into the common position. A further nine amendments were taken into account by the Commission when it amended its proposal, and seven of these were accepted in the common position. The Council commented as follows in the European Parliament's main concerns: -a logical classification system - one which is based on management practice but which is unambiguous (without overlaps, for example), scientifically justified and based on unequivocal common definitions - is essential for the production of statistics. Such preconditions do not yet exist in the area of waste arising from agriculture and fishing or the import and export of waste. The common position recommends that pilot studies should be conducted that assess the relevance and feasibility of obtaining data and evaluate the costs and benefits of collecting the data and the burden on enterprises, in order to decide whether such areas are to be incorporated into the scope of the Regulation. The Council has also made some amendments to give a firmer guarantee that statistics on the import and export of waste will be collected as soon as possible. -in order to strike a proper balance between relevant statistics which help achieve the objectives sought and the work for and cost to undertakings, a two-year period has been chosen in the common position. - the comparability of data is not affected by Member States' freedom to choose their statistical methods, in accordance with the subsidiarity principle. It enables methods to be adapted to Member States' different economic structures and technical conditions, thereby ensuring better overall quality at the lowest cost. - the Council cannot accept the total abolition of the transitional period, but has restricted the scope of the period to those activities in respect of which major changes have to be made. - the Council cannot accept a uniform method of collection, which is unnecessary, unworkable and would lead to higher costs in return for poorer quality. The collection of data and results must be based on minimum quality standards, but the method used to comply with those standards must be chosen by Member States. As the text in question is a legislative text relating to statistics, the Commission must be assisted by the Statistical Programme Committee. Lastly, the Council has partially accepted the Parliament's amendment on the separation of animal wastes from vegetal wastes.�