According to a recent decision by the European Commission, the Germans must take their waste back.

A sensitive and long-running dispute between Germany and Poland has finally come to an end. The European Commission reached an agreement with Poland on the issue of German waste shipped illegally to Poland from Germany, Polish Climate and Environment Minister Anna Moskwa announced on social media.

“Germany must take away the waste illegally stored in Poland! The European Commission has admitted that Poland is right in the dispute with Germany. We demand the authorities in Berlin to collect in the coming days the waste left behind. If they don’t do it immediately, the next step is to file a complaint with the European Court of Justice,”

she said.

Niemcy mają zabrać nielegalnie składowane śmieci w Polsce! Komisja Europejska przyznaje Polsce rację w sporze z Niemcami. Żądamy, aby władze w Berlinie w najbliższych dniach odebrały pozostawione odpady. Jeśli tego nie zrobią natychmiastowo, kolejnym krokiem jest wniosek do TSUE. pic.twitter.com/c41y7MU1xg

— Anna Moskwa (@moskwa_anna) October 18, 2023

Ms Moskwa attached a screenshot showing the European Commission’s opinion on the matter, which states that Germany has failed to comply with its obligations to take back, within the 30-day time limit, the waste from one location (Tuplice) and to a certain extent by failing to take back waste from another location (Stary Jawor).

In late September, a hearing was held before the European Commission in connection with Poland’s complaint over Germany’s refusal to clean up 38,500 tonnes of waste that had been brought to Poland and stored illegally in several locations, including Tuplice and Stary Jawor. The German federal government claims that the matter is the responsibility of German regional administrations, but they have taken no action to take back the waste. Poland’s penal code envisages sentences of up to 12 years imprisonment and fines of up €2.5 million for the dumping and abandonment of waste, Remix News writes.