On 25 January 2022, the Court of Justice ("ECJ") in
delivering a ruling in the case of Vysočina Wind A.S.
V Česká Republika (C- 181/20) held that
Directive 2012/19 dealing with waste electrical and electronic
equipment ("the Directive") is partially invalid in
relation to the obligation set out under Article
13(1), requiring producers of photovoltaic panels
("PV panels") to finance the management of waste caused
by PV panels which were placed on the market prior to the entry
into force of the said Directive. The timeframe in question runs
from the 13 August 2005 up to the 13 August 2012.
The ECJ was called upon to give a preliminary ruling concerning
the interpretation and validity of Article 13(1) of the Directive
and the conditions under which a Member State may be found to have
infringed EU Law for having adopted national legislation in
contrary to the Directive. During the Court's deliberations,
two primary principles were discussed, the principle of
