Question
My Lords, I thank the Minister for that Answer. My last Question on the matter was on 31 October 2002, when I asked whether there were guarantees that the directive would be brought in on time. The Minister, the noble Lord, Lord Sainsbury of Turville, said:"““We have, 18 months after adoption of the directive, to transpose it into national law . . . I see no reason why this will not come into law on time and be implemented properly””.—[Official Report, 31/10/02; col. 288.]" Why is this country years, rather than months, behind meeting all the deadlines for this directive? Why is it one of only two in Europe that have not yet transposed the directive into national law, the other being Malta? Why has it taken four sets of consultation on different documents before arriving at the present position? Can we have a guarantee that the latest deadlines that the Minister has announced will actually be kept to?
Answer
My Lords, we should recognise that the directive is difficult and complex to implement, and others have found that. Even countries that have implemented it are having some difficulties with the practicalities. It is particularly challenging to deal with getting the waste from consumers and end-users back to producers and distributors, which now have responsibility. It is because of some of those practicalities and concerns expressed by stakeholders that we have gone through the review announced last December and have now come forward with proposals, the thrust of which, we believe, stakeholders support. Therefore, we have the confidence that we can move forward, as I suggested, with the regulations, the draft guidance and the introduction of the provisions.