MEP rapporteur Dimitrios Papadimoulis re-introduced important amendments during the parliamentary second reading session concerning mercury legislation on 25 February.

He re-tabled amendments:
 to ban mercury export by 1st December 2010, 6 months earlier than recommended by the Commission and supported by the Council of Ministers,
 to extend the ban to compounds containing mercury whereas in its common position the EU Council rejected it.

Papadimoulis also rejected the EU Council proposition to store mercury underground and advocated for disposal in “appropriate facilities” financed by industry.

For more information:
 Read more about the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the banning of exports and the safe storage of metallic mercury