The Council of the European Union has adopted amendments to EU law on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), which includes a variety of products such as computers, refrigerators and photovoltaic panels.

These amendments aim to align the WEEE directive with a ruling by the EU Court of Justice in 2022 on the partial invalidity of the directive due to the unjustified retroactive application of extended producer responsibility to waste photovoltaic panels placed on the market between 13 August 2005 and 13 August 2012.

The amendments clarify that:

- The costs of management and disposal of waste photovoltaic panels placed on the market after 13 August 2012 are borne by the producer of the electrical and electronic equipment (EEE).

  - The extended producer responsibility for EEE products that were added to the scope of the directive in 2018 will apply to those electronic products that have been placed on the market after that date.

In addition, the amendments introduce a review clause, whereby the Commission must assess, by 2026 at the latest, the need for a revision of the directive.

Background and next steps

The Commission presented its proposal for a specific amendment to the WEEE Directive on 7 February 2023. Following the adoption of their negotiating positions in June (Council) and October (European Parliament) 2023, the co-legislators reached a provisional political agreement in November 2023. The agreement was formally voted by the European Parliament on 6 February 2024.

The vote by the Council closes the adoption procedure. The text of the amendments will be signed by the co-legislators, then published in the EU's Official Journal and enter into force 20 days later. Member states will have up to 18 months to transpose the amended directive into national law.