White & Case LLP - Publications - EU Environment Report

Services	Sectors
Antitrust Asset Finance Banking Canada Capital Markets Climate Change Commercial Litigation Data Privacy Employment & Benefits Financial Restructuring and Insolvency India Indonesia Intellectual Property International Arbitration International Trade Israel Korea Latin America Mergers & Acquisitions Private Clients Pro Bono Project Finance Sovereign Wealth Funds Sovereigns Spain Taiwan Tax White Collar	Communications and Media Construction Environmental Funds Islamic Finance Mining and Metals Oil & Gas Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare Power Real Estate Sourcing & Technology Transactions

North America	Latin America	Europe		Asia	Middle East/Africa
Los Angeles Miami New York Silicon Valley Washington, DC	Mexico City Monterrey São Paulo	Almaty Ankara Berlin Bratislava Brussels Bucharest Budapest Düsseldorf Frankfurt Geneva Hamburg	Helsinki Istanbul London Milan Moscow Munich Paris Prague Stockholm Warsaw	Beijing Hong Kong Shanghai Singapore Tokyo	Abu Dhabi Doha Johannesburg Riyadh

EU Environment Report – December 2011 - January 2012

February 1, 2012
DOWNLOAD PDF

In this issue:

Automobiles: Commission proposes changes to pollution limits for cars
Chemicals: New Biocides Regulation approved by Parliament; 20 substances added to REACH Candidate List; REACH representatives for non-EU companies
Climate Change: Successful agreement reached at UN climate change meeting in Durban; Commission publishes cost analysis of 30% CO2 target
Electronics: New Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment ("WEEE") Directive approved by European Parliament
Energy: EU Energy Roadmap to 2050 published
Other: Commission publishes draft State aid rules for EU Emissions Trading Scheme; Commission makes legislative proposal for new Public Procurement rules
The Months Ahead: Workshops & Conferences

New Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment ("WEEE") Directive approved by European Parliament
The revised directive on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) was approved by the European Parliament in its plenary session on 19 January 2012. It now only requires a formal rubber-stamping by the Council to become law. After much negotiation, the Councial and the Parliament finally reached an agreement on the Directive on 20 December 2011. The new WEEE directive amends the basis for calculating collection rates of electrical and electronic equipment. The new Directive is "open" in scope, meaning that it will now cover all equipment that meets the definition of WEEE (including a few precisely defined exceptions).

Successful agreement reached at UN climate change meeting in Durban
EU officials emerged from negotiations in Durban having successfully reached an agreement to draft a legally binding deal by 2015. Key highlights of the talks included commitments to new binding emissions reductions under the Kyoto Protocol, new accounting rules on emissions reductions from land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF), and an EU push for either a protocol or a legal instrument for the future policy's global framework. Notably, the negotiations resulted in the more concrete goal of a legal treaty to which industrialised and developing countries alike are bound. Additional topics discussed in Durban included rules for the Green Climate Fund, financing of REDD+ forestry projects, and carbon capture and storage projects under the clean development mechanism (CDM), which resulted in the adoption of a new materiality standard for emissions reporting.

To read the rest of this report, please download the PDF.

This newsletter is provided for your convenience and does not constitute legal advice. It is prepared for the general information of our clients and other interested persons. This newsletter should not be acted upon in any specific situation without appropriate legal advice, and it may include links to websites other than the White & Case website. White & Case LLP has no responsibility for any websites other than its own, and does not endorse the information, content, presentation or accuracy, or make any warranty, express or implied, regarding any other website.

This newsletter is protected by copyright. Material appearing herein may be reproduced or translated with appropriate credit.