The Swedish Government maintains that the Mining Waste Directive has been implemented

Published: 19. March 2014
Mining

In the EU Directive 2006/21/EC on the management of waste from extractive industries and amending Directive 2004/35/EC (the Mining Waste Directive) a number of rules regarding management of mining waste are identified. Since the Mining Waste Directive entered into force, five Commission decisions which belong to the directive have been added. The Mining Waste Directive was implemented in Swedish law mainly through the introduction of a regulation on mining waste.

The Commission was of the opinion that a number of questions needed to be clarified and therefore so called infringement proceedings were commenced in 2011. In a formal notice on September 29, 2011, the Commission stated that the Mining Waste Directive had not been completely or correctly implemented. The Swedish Government replied on November 30, 2011, and has since then handed in two supplemental responses of which the most recent was submitted on July 9, 2013. By then, a new mining waste regulation (2013:319) had been introduced and gained force in Sweden.

On November 21, 2013, a so called reasoned opinion was submitted by the Commission to Sweden. The opinion indicates that the Commission is still not satisfied with the Swedish implementation of the Mining Waste Directive. Sweden replied to this on January 21, 2014 and the Swedish Government maintains that the directive has been implemented.

From a general point of view, the discussion regarding the implementation of the Mining Waste Directive can be described as follows. The Commission wants that Swedish legislation ensures compliance with the Mining Waste Directive and that the provisions of the directive appear more literally in the national legislation. The Swedish Government on the other hand, means that the provisions of the Mining Waste Directive have been implemented; if not expressly stated, this is evident from other regulations. As an example, the Government refers to the rules of consideration in the Environmental Code. The Government also refers to legal preparatory work on which the Swedish regulations are based. Thus, according to the Commission, a directive cannot be considered implemented through preparatory work, since this does not sufficiently guarantee compliance with the directive.

If the Commission should not be satisfied with the Government’s response, the Commission might take action against Sweden by referring the case to the European Court of Justice.

Foyen follows the development within this area of law. Do you have questions regarding mining waste or other questions regarding mining law? Contact Foyen at tel: +46 (0)8-506 184 00 or by e-mail.

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