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Commission of the European Communities v Kingdom of Belgium

Country/Territory
Belgium
Date
Jul 9, 1992
Source
UNEP, InforMEA
Court name
European Court of Justice
Judge
Joliet O; Schockweiler, F.A.; Grévisse, F.; Kapteyn, P.J.G.; Mancini, G.F.; Kakouris, C.N.
Moitinho de Almeida, J.C.; Rodríguez Iglesias, G.C.; Díez de Velasco, M.; Zuleeg, M.
Reference number
C-2/90
Language
English
Subject
Waste & hazardous substances
Abstract

This case was concerned with a Belgian law that prohibited waste that originated in Member States from being dumped or stored in Wallonia, an area of Belgium.

The question brought forward to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) was whether this provision ran counter to Article 34 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) ensuring the free movement of goods.

The Belgian government argued that waste could not be considered as ‘goods’, because it has no intrinsic commercial value. The ECJ decided differently and said that when waste is the subject of a commercial transaction, as it was in this case for transportation purposes, it is subject to Article 34 TFEU.

Furthermore, Belgium could not justify the violation of this article with the argument of environmental protection. Therefore, the Belgian law ran counter to the free movement of goods.

Full text
eur-lex.europa.eu
Website
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