JUDGMENT OF THE COURT (Sixth Chamber)
1 March 2007 (*)
(Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations – Directives 2002/96/EC and 2003/108/EC – Waste – Electrical and electronic equipment)
In Case C-139/06,
ACTION under Article 226 EC for failure to fulfil obligations, brought on 10 March 2006,
Commission of the European Communities, represented by M. Konstantinidis and D. Lawunmi, acting as Agents, with an address for service in Luxembourg,
applicant,
v
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, represented by V. Jackson, acting as Agent,
defendant,
THE COURT (Sixth Chamber),
composed of P. Kūris, President of the Chamber, K. Schiemann and J.-C. Bonichot (Rapporteur), Judges,
Advocate General: M. Poiares Maduro,
Registrar: R. Grass,
having regard to the written procedure,
having decided, after hearing the Advocate General, to proceed to judgment without an Opinion,
gives the following
Judgment
1 In its application, the Commission of the European Communities requests that the Court declare that, by failing to adopt the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with:
– Directive 2002/96/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 January 2003 on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) (OJ 2003 L 37, p. 24), and
– Directive 2003/108/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 December 2003 amending Directive 2002/96 (OJ 2003 L 345, p. 106),
or in any event by failing to communicate them, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has failed to fulfil its obligations under those directives.
2 In accordance with Article 17 of Directive 2002/96 and Article 2 of Directive 2003/108, the Member States were obliged to bring into force the necessary laws, regulations and administrative provisions to comply with those directives before 13 August 2004 at the latest, and to inform the Commission forthwith.
Pre-litigation procedure
3 When the Commission found that it had not received any information allowing it to establish that the United Kingdom had adopted the necessary provisions to effect transposition of the directives into its domestic legal systems, the Commission commenced the infringement proceedings provided for in Article 226 EC. After sending a letter of formal notice to the United Kingdom on 15 December 2004, the Commission delivered, on 5 July 2005, reasoned opinions concerning those directives and calling on that Member State to take the necessary measures to comply with them within two months of notification.
4 On 13 September 2005 the United Kingdom informed the Commission that it intended to respond to those reasoned opinions before 30 September 2005. On 27 October 2005 it declared in response to the reasoned opinions that, while indeed the directives in question had not been transposed, the legislation appropriate to England and Wales would be adopted during November 2005, that the same would hold for Scotland and Northern Ireland, and that the Government of Gibraltar intended to introduce legislation before the end of 2005.
5 On 20 December 2005, the United Kingdom informed the Commission of a further delay in the transposition of the directives in question. A meeting between the United Kingdom and the Commission took place at the beginning of February 2006 to discuss the issue of transposition of those directives by that Member State.
The action
6 It is against this background that the Commission has brought the present infringement proceedings.
7 In its defence, the United Kingdom acknowledges that the measures necessary to comply with Directives 2002/96 and 2003/108 were not adopted within the period prescribed and that the Commission is entitled to request a declaration of failure to fulfil obligations. The United Kingdom also states that the procedure of transposition is now under way.
8 In the present case, it is indeed undisputed that, as the United Kingdom moreover recognises, on the expiry of the period set in the reasoned opinions, all the measures necessary to effect the transposition of Directives 2002/96 and 2003/108 into the legal systems of the United Kingdom had not been taken.
9 In those circumstances the action of the Commission must be declared to be well founded.
10 In view of the foregoing, it must be held that, by failing to adopt the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with Directives 2002/96 and 2003/108, the United Kingdom has failed to fulfil its obligations under those directives.
Costs
11 Under Article 69(2) of the Rules of Procedure, the unsuccessful party is to be ordered to pay the costs if they have been applied for in the successful party’s pleadings. Since the Commission has asked for costs to be awarded against the United Kingdom, and since the latter is the unsuccessful party, the United Kingdom must be ordered to pay the costs.
On those grounds, the Court (Sixth Chamber) hereby:
1. Declares that, by failing to adopt the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with:
– Directive 2002/96/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 January 2003 on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), and
– Directive 2003/108/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 December 2003 amending Directive 2002/96,
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has failed to fulfil its obligations under those Directives;
2. Orders the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to pay the costs.
[Signatures]