After discussions in Europe throughout the 1990's, the EC Landfill Directive was finally agreed by the European Parliament on 26 April 1999. This requires UK legislation to be made to bring it into force in the UK by 16 July 2001. A Department of The Environment , Transport and the Regions (DETR) Consultation Paper in October 2000 indicated that this will be brought about by amendments to the Pollution Prevention and Control Regulations 2000 (PPC). Although some industry representatives believe that the timescale is now too tight for that date to be met (especially if a General Election takes place, preventing any Government action on new Regulations for six weeks beforehand), DETR say they are confident it can be done