After identifying several shortcomings in France's transposition of the EU Waste Framework Directive, the European Commission has decided to begin infringement proceedings against the member state by sending a letter of formal written notice. With that, France joins a growing list of Union members which the Commission believes has incorrectly transposed the 2018 revisions to the WFD, the cornerstone of EU waste regulation. Infringement proceedings have already been launched against Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, Cyprus, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, and Romania.
According to the Commission, France has failed to correctly incorporate the WFD's methodology to be used for measuring food waste generation into its national law. In addition, measures on the separate collection of waste, the incineration of separately collected waste, and certain definitions had not been transposed correctly.
The amended WFD sets binding targets for recycling and preparing municipal waste for reuse. It also introduces requirements for member states to improve their waste management systems and the efficiency of resource use. The deadline for the transposition of the revised Directive was 5 July 2020.
France now has two months to respond and address the concerns outlined by the Commission in the letter of formal notice. Failure to provide a satisfactory response may result in the escalation of the case. The next procedural step would be the sending of a reasoned opinion setting another deadline. If the member state still fails to achieve compliance, the Commission may decide to launch a case at the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
