The EU is the world's main supplier of mercury. In January 2005, the Commission acknowledged its willingness to "phase out this trade all together", and presented to Council and Parliament its mercury strategy, which calls for a phase-out of mercury exports by 2011 and addresses the issue of safe storage. A proposal for a regulation banning mercury exports and on mercury storage was presented by the Commission in October 2006.
The Parliament's 20 June 2007 resolution, which comes on the heels of a 5 June vote to ban the use of mercury in the EU (EurActiv 07/06/07), contains a proposal to ban mercury imports as well as exports, effectively constituting a ban on the EU's mercury trade. The Commission has made clear that this is not part of its original proposal.
In addition to the trade ban, Parliament's resolution calls for excess mercury that has been decommissioned from industrial use to be stored in temporary safe sites which are to be constantly monitored. Substances are to be moved to permanent holding sites once these become available.
Both the Greens/EFA Group and the European Environment Bureau (EEB) welcomed the vote, but complained about the 2010 start date, which, according to the EEB, "prolongs the risk of mercury contamination worldwide over the next three years".
On 28 June, the Environment Council is expected to reach a political agreement on the export ban and storage issue.
