European Union – Environment. Article 15 of Council Directive (EC) 94/62 and the 'polluter-pays' principle which it implemented did not preclude national legislation which imposed a contribution on an economic operator which did not make any alteration to the packaging which it had placed on the market. The Court of Justice so held in a preliminary ruling in proceedings concerning the lawfulness of a contribution imposed on the applicant company by the relevant Romanian authorities, calculated on the basis of the packaging which the applicant had placed on the Romanian market during a certain period.