Conti 11. Container Schiffahrts-GmbH & Co. KG MS "MSC Flaminia" v Land Niedersachsen.

• Jurisdiction: European Union
• Court: Court of Justice (European Union)
• Writing for the Court: Lycourgos
• ECLI: ECLI:EU:C:2019:420
• Docket Number: C-689/17
• Date: 16 May 2019
• Procedure Type: Reference for a preliminary ruling

Provisional text

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT (Fifth Chamber)

16 May 2019 (*)

(Reference for a preliminary ruling — Environment — Shipment of waste — Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 — Waste subject to the prior written notification and consent procedure — Shipments within the European Union — Article 1(3)(b) — Exclusion from the regulation’s scope — Waste generated on board ships — Waste on board a ship following damage at sea)

In Case C‑689/17,

REQUEST for a preliminary ruling under Article 267 TFEU from the Landgericht München I (Regional Court, Munich I, Germany), made by decision of 29 November 2017, received at the Court on 8 December 2017, in the proceedings

Conti 11. Container Schiffahrts-GmbH & Co. KG Ms ‘MSC Flaminia’

v

Land Niedersachsen,

THE COURT (Fifth Chamber),

composed of E. Regan, President of the Chamber, C. Lycourgos (Rapporteur), E. Juhász, M. Ilešič and I. Jarukaitis, Judges,

Advocate General: H. Saugmandsgaard Øe,

Registrar: D. Dittert, Head of Unit,

having regard to the written procedure and further to the hearing on 25 October 2018,

after considering the observations submitted on behalf of:

– Conti 11. Container Schiffahrts-GmbH & Co. KG Ms ‘MSC Flaminia’, by J.‑E. Pötschke and W. Steingröver, Rechtsanwälte,

– Land Niedersachsen, by R. van der Hout, advocaat, and H. Jacobj, Rechtsanwalt,

– the European Commission, by A.C. Becker, E. Sanfrutos Cano and L. Haasbeek, acting as Agents,

after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General at the sitting on 24 January 2019,

gives the following

Judgment

1 This request for a preliminary ruling concerns the interpretation of Article 1(3)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2006 on shipments of waste (OJ 2006 L 190, p. 1).

2 The request has been made in proceedings between Conti 11. Container Schiffahrts-GmbH & Co. KG Ms ‘MSC Flaminia’ (‘Conti’) and Land Niedersachsen (the Land of Lower Saxony, Germany) concerning the obligation imposed by the latter on Conti to carry out a notification procedure relating to shipment of waste that was on board the ship MSC Flaminia (‘the Flaminia’) following damage at sea.

Legal context

EU law

Directives on waste

3 Article 1(1) of Directive 2006/12/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 April 2006 on waste (OJ 2006 L 114, p. 9) provided:

‘For the purposes of this Directive:

(a) “waste” shall mean any substance or object in the categories set out in Annex I which the holder discards or intends or is required to discard;

...’

4 Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 on waste and repealing certain Directives (OJ 2008 L 312, p. 3), which repealed Directive 2006/12, provides in Article 3:

‘For the purposes of this Directive, the following definitions shall apply:

1. “waste” means any substance or object which the holder discards or intends or is required to discard;

...’

Regulation No 1013/2006

5 Recitals 1, 7 and 14 of Regulation No 1013/2006 state:

‘(1) The main and predominant objective and component of this Regulation is the protection of the environment, its effects on international trade being only incidental.

...

(7) It is important to organise and regulate the supervision and control of shipments of waste in a way which takes account of the need to preserve, protect and improve the quality of the environment and human health and which promotes a more uniform application of the Regulation throughout the [European Union].

...

(14) In the case of shipments of waste destined for disposal operations and waste not listed in Annex III, IIIA or IIIB destined for recovery operations, it is appropriate to ensure optimum supervision and control by requiring prior written consent to such shipments. Such a procedure should in turn entail prior notification, which enables the competent authorities to be duly informed so that they can take all necessary measures for the protection of human health and the environment. It should also enable those authorities to raise reasoned objections to such a shipment.’

6 Article 1 of Regulation No 1013/2006 provides:

‘1. This Regulation establishes procedures and control regimes for the shipment of waste, depending on the origin, destination and route of the shipment, the type of waste shipped and the type of treatment to be applied to the waste at its destination.

...

3. The following shall be excluded from the scope of this Regulation:

(a) the offloading to shore of waste, including waste water and residues, generated by the normal operation of ships and offshore platforms, provided that such waste is subject to the requirements of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, [signed in London on 2 November 1973, as supplemented by the Protocol of 17 February 1978] (Marpol 73/78), or other binding international instruments;

(b) waste generated on board vehicles, trains, aeroplanes and ships, until such waste is offloaded in order to be recovered or disposed of;

…’

7 Article 2 of Regulation No 1013/2006 states:

‘For the purposes of this Regulation:

1. “waste” is as defined in Article 1(1)(a) of Directive [2006/12];

...

34. “shipment” means the transport of waste destined for recovery or disposal ...;

...’

8 Article 3(1) of Regulation No 1013/2006 provides:

‘Shipments of the following wastes shall be subject to the procedure of prior written notification and consent as laid down in the provisions of this Title:

(a) if destined for disposal operations:

all wastes;

(b) if destined for recovery operations:

(i) wastes listed in Annex IV, which include, inter alia, wastes listed in Annexes II and VIII to the Basel Convention [on the control of transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and their disposal, signed on 22 March 1989 and approved on behalf of the European Economic Community by Council Decision 93/98/EEC of 1 February 1993 (OJ 1993 L 39, p. 1)],

(ii) wastes listed in Annex IVA,

(iii) wastes not classified under one single entry in either Annex III, IIIB, IV or IVA,

(iv) mixtures of wastes not classified under one single entry in either Annex III, IIIB, IV or IVA unless listed in Annex IIIA.’

9 Article 4 of Regulation No 1013/2006 provides:

‘Where the notifier intends to ship waste as referred to in Article 3(1)(a) or (b), he/she shall submit a prior written notification to and through the competent authority of dispatch and, if submitting a general notification, comply with Article 13.

When a notification is submitted, the following requirements shall be fulfilled:

1. notification and movement documents:

Notification shall be effected by means of the following documents:

(a) the notification document set out in Annex IA; and

(b) the movement document set out in Annex IB.

In submitting a notification, the notifier shall fill in the notification document and, where relevant, the movement document.

...

The notification document and the movement document shall be issued to the notifier by the competent authority of dispatch.

…’

German law

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