Question écrite de
M. Nicolae ŞTEFĂNUȚĂ
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Commission européenne
Subject: Concern over the reliability of the waste management statistics submitted by Romania
The latest investigative report on ‘Recycling in Romania: Chaos, Corruption and Incompetence’ published by the Romanian journal Recorder shows that the statistics officially transmitted to the EU do not reflect the situation on the ground as regards waste management. This situation threatens to undermine the European Green Deal and calls for remedial action from the Commission.
The lack of transparency and oversight in this area is perturbing, and means that the statistics provided by Romania cannot be trusted. The unreliability of the statistics is a threat to delivering the objectives of the European circular economy on the ground.
How can the Commission ensure that Romania implements concrete reforms to improve its recycling system and to ensure that the reporting of waste management statistics reflects the actual situation on the ground and that the data submitted can be relied upon by Eurostat and for EU policies?
Submitted: 19.9.2023
Answer given by Mr Sinkevičius on behalf of the European Commission (17 November 2023)
The Commission does not have powers to inspect whether data on waste reported by the Member States is consistent with the situation on the ground, with the exception of the powers provided for in Council Regulation 2021/768 (1), which apply to the own resource based on plastic packaging waste that is not recycled.
That exception aside, the Commission relies on information reported by the Member States to Eurostat, which evaluates its completeness, reliability, timeliness and consistency before publication.
The Commission takes account of various information sources and engages in consultations and discussions with a broad range of stakeholders for its assessments of the Member States’ waste management performance.
Building on the assessment of the European Environment Agency, in 2023 the Commission published the Early Warning Report (2) on the progress of Member States towards reaching the recycling, preparation for reuse and landfilling targets, which are laid down in the Waste Framework Directive (3), the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (4) and the Landfill Directive (5), and on Member States’ implementation challenges.
In the country-specific annex on Romania to the Early Warning Report, the Commission concludes that although Romania has recently allocated considerable funding to waste infrastructure, it still needs to make significant improvements to its waste management.
It also raises data quality issues in relation to municipal waste, including packaging waste. The Commission recommends that Romania takes measures to further improve waste management and will follow-up on the progress towards compliance with the targets for recycling, preparation for re-use and landfilling.
1 ∙ ⸱ Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2021/768 of 30 April 2021 laying down implementing measures for the system of own resources of the European Union
and repealing Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 608/2014, OJ L 165, 11.5.2021, p. 1-8. 2 ∙ ⸱ Early warning report (EWR) Romania https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52023SC0199; European Environment Agency (EEA) assessment Romania https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/many-eu-member-states/romania/view 3 ∙ ⸱ Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 on waste and repealing certain Directives, OJ L 312, 22.11.2008, p. 3-30, as amended by Directive (EU) 2018/851 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May, OJ L 150, 14.6.2018, p. 109-140. 4 ∙ ⸱ Directive 94/62/EC of 20 December 1994 on packaging and packaging waste, OJ L 365, 31.12.1994, p. 10-23, as amended by Directive (EU) 2018/852 of 30 May 2018, OJ L 150, 14.6.2018, p. 141-154. 5 ∙ ⸱
Council Directive 1999/31/EC of 26 April 1999 on the landfill of waste, OJ L 182, 16.7.1999, p. 1-19, amended by Directive (EU) 2018/850 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018, OJ L 150, 14.6.2018, p. 100-108.