Archived press release

BLAIR DOES GERMANY'S DIRTY WORK. Sources say PM forced UK U-turn on car recycling

24 June 1999

Brussels sources suggest that, following lobbying by German Chancellor Gerhard Schrder, Tony Blair has intervened to force Environment Minister Michael Meacher to reverse UK support for a European Directive on car recycling. Friends of the Earth issued the warning as the Directive is to be debated in Luxembourg over the next two days [1].

The German Chancellor, a former Director of Volkswagen and close ally of Mr Blair, has already forced his Environment Minister, Jrgen Trittin, to change his position over the Directive [2]. German car manufacturers are unhappy with the need for them to pay for car recycling under the so-called producer responsibility provisions of the draft law. For the Germans to succeed in weakening the Directive they will need support of other countries. Previously, all other member states have supported the car recycling proposal.

This is the second time within days that Mr Blair has been accused of intervening in the affairs of the Department of the Environment. Earlier this week, he was alleged to have told Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, not to make a bus lane on the M4 permanent,after the Prime Minister had been caught in a traffic jam alongside it [3].

Mike Childs, Senior Waste Campaigner at Friends of the Earth said:

"Our information suggests that once again Tony Blair has intervened to water down a key environmental measure. This is European politics at its worst,horse-trading and backroom deals rather than open and honest debate. The Prime Minister's has stated that Europe must concentrate on issues which matter to people - jobs, crime and the environment. He shouldn't therefore be doing the German's dirty work for them by attempting to prevent environmental improvements."

NOTES TO EDITORS:
[1] The Council of European Environment Ministers is meeting in Luxembourg today and tomorrow. Its agenda includes discussion of the 'End of Life Vehicles Directive'. This would make motor manufacturers financially responsible for the dismantling and recycling of old vehicles. It also sets targets for the amount of the vehicle that should be recycled and bans certain toxic metals from being disposed to landfill. At present virtually all of the non-metal parts of vehicles are disposed to landfill. This is responsible for 10 per cent of the hazardous waste in Europe.
[2] ENDS Daily 23 June 1999 "Germany applies brake on scrap car proposal". Paper copies of this article can be obtained from Friends of the Earth.
[3] Ian Evans and David Williams 23 June 1999 "Blair left fuming by M4 bus lane"http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/html/news.html. Paper copies of the relevant web page can be obtained from Friends of the Earth.

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust