As a result of the differing costs of waste processing within the Community, the shipment of waste offers waste brokers, collectors and processors opportunities to profit. Cheap processing is not, however, always environmentally sound. Regulation (EEC) No 259/93 on the supervision and control of shipments of waste should guarantee that waste will be transported and processed without negative consequences for the environment. Nevertheless, in many countries persons and undertakings evade the Regulation and other Community legislation on the processing of waste.
Transnational co-operation in both implementation and enforcement seems to be a conditio sine qua non for the effective operation of the Regulation. This article shows the cooperation which the Regulation requires, and the legal framework for this cooperation, which is not wholly adequate, it offers the Member States.
The Netherlands and Germany (Nordrhein-Westfalen and Hessen) have more or less changed their national implementation and enforcement structures and policies in the way the Regulation demands. Yet the transnational cooperation contemplated in the Regulation is unlikely to be achieved unless far-reaching harmonisation of environmental standards for waste-processing and legal instruments for cooperation in enforcement are created at Community level.
European Energy and Environmental Law Review