ZAGREB, January 31, 2020 - The Constitutional Court on Thursday suspended the 2019 waste management regulation, until a final decision on constitutionality is established, and therefore waste management prices will remain unchanged for the time being.
"Even though this decision on temporary suspension does not pre-empt a final decision, we consider that this refers to a very important issue which requires special attention and a detailed debate particularly in light of the possibility of a threat to one of the fundamental values of constitutional order and that is to protect nature and environment and the constitutional right to a healthy environment," Constitutional Court Chief Justice Miroslav Šeparović told Hina.
Now that the Constitutional Court decision has been made, the cost of the services of waste management will remain unchanged, which means that cities cannot increase their price as some had announced they would.
Several cities, municipalities, utility companies and some individuals, applied to the Constitutional Court to test the constitutionality of the regulations of waste management that the government adopted in May 2017 and in September 2019 related to the Law on Sustainable Waste Management.
All the applicants proposed that until the Constitutional Court adopts its decision, the regulation and pertaining operations should be temporarily suspended, underlining that the enactment of the regulation could lead to "grave and irrevocable repercussions for consumers of public services, providers of those services as well as for local government units."
The applicants, among other things, said that the contested regulation could hamper the waste management system's functioning, and it could also lead to the model of payment of utility services contrary to the "law and EU directives."
They underlined that unclear criteria determining the ratio between the fixed and variable portions of the cost of waste collection requires a detailed opinion by the Constitutional Court and that the "introduction of ambiguously defined various groups of legal subjects brings into question the applicability of measure aimed at achieving one of its basic objectives and that is to sort waste at the doorstep."
More waste management news can be found in the Lifestyle section.
