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Формування європейського права навколишнього середовища
the defence of the interests of burners of waste oils, hereinafter referred to as
‘ the association ‘ ), on the ground that its aim and objects were unlawful. The
association ‘ s object is to defend the interests of manufacturers, dealers and
users of stoves and heating appliances which burn both fuel oil and waste oil,
such burning being prohibited by the french legislation.
3 Articles 2 to 4 of Directive no 75/439/EEC require Member States to take the
necessary measures to ensure the safe collection and disposal of waste oils, pre
ferably by recycling. Article 5 of the Directive provides as follows: ‘ where the aims
defined in Articles 2, 3 and 4 cannot otherwise be achieved, Member States shall
take the necessary measures to ensure that one or more undertakings carry out
the collection and/or disposal of the products offered to them by the holders,
where appropriate in the zone assigned to them by the competent authorities. ‘
Article 6 (1) thereof further provides that ‘ any undertaking which disposes of
waste oils must obtain a permit ‘ . In addition, Articles 13 and 14 provide that
an indemnity, financed in accordance with the ‘ polluter pays ‘ principle and
not exceeding the actual yearly costs, may be granted to undertakings collecting
and/or disposing of waste oils, as compensation for the obligations imposed on
them under Article 5.
4 In pursuance of the Directive, on 21 November 1979 the french government
adopted decree no 79-981 laying down rules for the recovery of waste oils, to-
gether with the two above-mentioned implementing orders of the same date.
Under those provisions french territory was divided into zones and a system was
established for the approval both of waste-oil collectors and of the undertakings
responsible for disposing of waste oils. Under Article 3 of decree no 79-981,
holders of waste oils must either deliver them to collectors approved pursuant
to Article 4 thereof, or make them directly available to a disposal undertaking
which has obtained the approval required by Article 8, or else perform the di-
sposal themselves if they have been granted such an approval. Article 6 of the
decree requires collectors to surrender the oils collected to approved disposal
undertakings. Article 7 lays down that‘ the only permitted methods for disposing
of waste oils ... Are recycling or regeneration under economically acceptable
conditions, or else industrial use as fuel‘. With respect to such industrial use, the
second paragraph of Article 2 of the implementing order on the conditions for
the disposal of waste oils provides that disposal by burning must take place ‘in a
plant which has been approved for the purposes of environmental protection‘.
5 Since the legislation in question was adopted pursuant to Directive no 75/439,
the association raised before the national court the question whether that Direc-
tive could constitute a legal basis for the prohibition of the burning of waste oils.
Furthermore, doubts were expressed as to the validity of the Directive in the light
of certain fundamental principles of Community law.
6 In those circumstances, the tribunal de grande instance, creteil, stayed the
proceedings and submitted to the court a request for a preliminary ruling on
the interpretation and validity of Directive no 75/439/EEC, in the following
terms:
‘is the Directive in conformity with the principles of freedom of trade, free
movement of goods and freedom of competition, established by the Treaty
of rome, in view of the fact that Articles 5 and 6 of the Directive empower the
administrative authorities of the states to draw up zones which are assigned to