EU Environmental Deadlines to be Missed

By Suzanne Deffree -- Electronic News, 7/13/2004

San Francisco -- Deadline concerns arose at an EU EHS legislation and regulations update at Semicon West today.

Pierre Lucas, director of public policy, SEMI Europe, disclosed that several of the 25 member companies involved in the European environmental policy commission may not meet the August 13 deadline for compliance with the Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directives.

"Not all of the member states will meet the deadline. Not where we stand now."

Those that do not meet the deadline will face pressure from the EU, then be brought to the Court of Justice. In many cases, the European states will pass the regulation issues directly to the manufacturers that do not meet the legislation, Lucas said.

The two separate directives aim at improving the management of waste and electrical and electronic equipment and have been joined by several other proposals to keep Europe "green."

Whether further regulations -- such as REACH, which concerns chemical legislation, or the commission's Integrated Product Policy -- will come to light was also brought to question during Lucas' presentation. Recently the commission welcomed 10 new member companies into its fold. Those countries, which include Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary, may put economics ahead of environmental issues, the SEMI director said.

"These countries, most of which are former communist countries, have brought some new ways of thinking into the EU decision-making process. This doesn't mean that the environmental issue of the EU will be completely abandoned, but the way of thinking at these countries is less green," Lucas said. "These are countries that are very demanding in terms of rapid economic development, so their commitment to our environmental rules might be less than the commitment coming from old EU members."