EN    EN  
 EUROPEAN  
COMMISSION 
Brussels, XXX   
[…](2017) XXX  draft 
  
COMMISSION DELEGATED DIRECTIVE (EU) .../… 
of XXX  
amending, for the purposes of ad apting to scientific and tech nical progress, Annex III to 
Directive 2011/65/EU of the Eu ropean Parliament and of the Council as regards an 
exemption for cadmium in colou r converting light-emitting diodes (LEDs) for use in 
display systems 
(Text with EEA relevance) 
  
EN 2   EN EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 
1. CONTEXT  OF THE  DELEGATED  ACT 
This Commission Delegated Directive amends, for the purpose of adapting to technical 
progress, Annex III of Directive 2011/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council 
on the restriction of the use of  certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic 
equipment (recast)1 (RoHS 2) as regards an exemption for specific applications containing 
cadmium. 
RoHS 2 restricts the use of certain hazardou s substances in electrical and electronic 
equipment, as provided for in its Articl e 4. It entered into force on 21 July 2011. 
The restricted substances are listed in Annex II  to RoHS 2; while the restrictions of lead, 
mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, pol ybrominated biphenyls, and polybrominated 
diphenyl ethers are in force, the restrictions of bis(2-ethy lhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), butyl 
benzyl phthalate (BBP), dibutyl  phthalate (DBP), diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP)  shall apply 
from 22 July 2019. Annexes III and IV to RoHS  2 list the materials and components of 
electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) fo r specific applications exempted from the 
substance restriction of RoHS 2 Article 4(1). 
Article 5 makes provision for the adaptation to scientific and technical progress (inclusion, 
renewal, amendments and revoking of exempti ons) of Annexes III and IV. Pursuant to 
Article 5(1)(a), exemptions are to be included in  Annexes III and IV only  if  such inclusion 
does not weaken the environmental a nd health protection afforded by 
Regulation (EC) No 1907/20062 and where any of the following conditions is fulfilled: their 
elimination or substitution via design change s or materials and components which do not 
require any of the materials or substances listed in Annex II is scientifically or technically 
impracticable; the reliability of substitutes is no t ensured; or the total negative environmental, 
health and consumer safety impacts caused by substitution are likely to outweigh the total 
environmental, health and consum er safety benefits thereof. 
Furthermore, Article 5(1) provides that th e European Commission (the Commission) shall 
include materials and components of EEE for specific applications in the lists in Annexes III 
and IV by means of individual de legated acts in accordance with  Article 20. Article 5(3) and 
Annex V establish the procedure for submitti ng applications for granting, renewing, or 
revoking an exemption. 
2. CONSULTATIONS  PRIOR  TO THE  ADOPTION  OF THE  ACT 
Since the publication of RoHS 2, the Commission has received numerous3 requests from 
economic operators, according to the provisi ons in Article 5(3) and Annex V, for both 
granting new and renewing existing exemptions. 
The current Annex III exemption 39 permits the use of cadmium in certain colour converting 
light-emitting diodes (LEDs) for lighting and display applications. The colour converting component in LEDs consists of cadmium cont aining quantum dots. Th e Commission received 
an application for renewal of exemption 39 of Annex III in Decem ber 2012 and a related 
application specifically for cadmium quantum dot s in displays in May 2013. The Commission 
services decided to address bot h applications in a common a ssessment. While exemption 39 
                                                 
1 OJ L 174, 1.7.2011, p. 88. 
2 OJ L 396, 30.12.2006, p. 1 
3 The list is given at: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/w aste/rohs_eee/adaptation_en.htm   
EN 3   EN had 1 July 2014 as former expiration date, in  line with the require ments of the RoHS 
Directive (Article 5 (5), sec ond subparagraph), it continues to  apply until a decision on the 
renewal application is taken by the Commission. 
Following the renewal applications in 2012/ 2013, the Commission a dopted a Delegated 
Directive in January 2015.4 However, the European Parliament objected to the Commission's 
Delegated Directive: in its Resolution5 of 20 May 2015 the European Parliament mainly based 
its objection on market developments which had occurred since the Commission's assessment, 
with certain cadmium-free quantum dot equi pment becoming available in March 2015, and 
called on the Commission to reassess its decisi on. Consequently, the Commission initiated a 
new assessment as required by the Directive, with the support of external consultants and 
involving new stakeholder cons ultations. The new scientific and technical assessment was 
finalised in June 20166. A further Member States consul tation took place during an expert 
meeting on 1 and 2 September 2016, which also i nvolved presentations from the applicants 
and stakeholders most concerned. All necessary steps pursuant to Articles 5(3) to 5(7) have been performed. The Council and the European Parliament were notif ied of all activities. 
Quantum dots are a technology available on the market which, as other competing 
technologies, is expected to replace older colo ur converting designs in  many applications in 
the near future. The scientific and technical assessmen t from June 2016 show ed that the use of 
cadmium-based quantum dots in displays with higher performance in terms of colour gamut 
has an overall positive environmental imp act due to their lower energy consumption 
compared with indium phosphide alternativ es, the main potential substitute technology 
currently on the market. Therefore, the Co mmission concluded that the total negative 
environmental, health and consumer safety impacts caused by substitution of cadmium in 
quantum dot applications are like ly to outweigh the total envir onmental, health and consumer 
safety benefits thereof. In light of Article 5( 1)(a) third criterion, a specific exemption for the 
use of cadmium selenide limited to less than 0.2 μg cadmium per mm
2 of screen area for 
display applications is therefore currently justified. In comparison with the currently 
applicable exemption, such new exemption is more restrictive: a much lower threshold value is allowed, only the use of cadmium selenide (the inorganic compound actually used in the 
application concerned) is exempted and the applications are more  precisely defined. 
The assessment carried out in preparation of the current dele gated directive has also shown 
that, given the rapid technolog ical progress and very dynami c market in this field, 
indium-phosphide-based applications and, possi bly, other emerging technologies may lead to 
rapid performance enhancement of cadmi um-free displays. Based on the above 
considerations, it is therefore justified to gr ant a short-termed exemption only, of two years 
from publication of the Delegate d Directive in the Official J ournal of the European Union. 
This short period is the minimum duration possible for a RoHS 2 exemption given the 
18-month deadline in RoHS 2 Article 5 for reques ting the renewal of an exemption. It is also 
intended to avoid any adverse impacts on innovati on and in particular th e further development 
of equivalent cadmium-free alternatives. 
                                                 
4 C(2015) 383 final: 
http://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regdoc/rep/3/2015/EN/3-2015-383-EN-F1-1.PDF  
http://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regdoc/rep/3/2015/EN/3-2015-383-EN-F1-1-ANNEX-1.PDF  
5 http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc .do?pubRef=-//EP// TEXT+TA+P8-TA-2015-
0205+0+DOC+XML+V 0//EN&language=EN . 
6 http://bookshop.europa.eu/en/assistance-to-the-commi ssion-on-technological-socio-economic-and-cost-
benefit-assessment-related-to-exemptions-from-the-substance-restrictions-in-electrical-and-electronic-
equipment-pbKH0416553/   
EN 4   EN Regarding lighting applications, while cadmium-based quantum dots LEDs for illumination 
(lamps) have been claimed to lead to overall performance improvement in related lighting technology, they are not available on the market yet. Hence, the so far existing exemption has 
in this respect not found an application in pr actice. Theoretical and not properly quantifiable 
advantages in specific applications claimed to  be offered by cadmium-based prototype lamps 
do not justify a renewal of the exemption as re gards general illumination applications, also in 
view of the rapid efficiency progress being made  by lamps in the last years. Overall, reliable 
substitutes exist and there is not sufficient evidence enabling a comparison of the environmental, health and consumer safe ty impacts of cadmium-based illumination 
applications and existing alternatives. Thus, in th e light of the three criteria in Article 5(1)(a), 
it has not been demonstrated that an exem ption is justified as regards illumination 
applications. These are therefore not included in  the Delegated Directive. Nonetheless, it is 
always possible to submit a request for exempti on in the future when information is available 
for applicants to demonstrate that cadmium-based specific illumination applications have benefits over other light sour ce alternatives, so to meet one of the criteria for RoHS 
exemptions. 
3. LEGAL
 ELEMENTS  OF THE  DELEGATED  ACT 
The Delegated Directive grants an exemption from the restrictions in Article 4(1), to be listed 
in Annex III of Directive 2011/65/EU, for the use of cadmium in sp ecific applications. 
The instrument is a Delegated Directive, as provided for by Directive 2011/65/EU, and in 
particular meeting the relevant requi rements of Article 5(1)(a) thereof. 
The objective of the Delegated Directive is to co ntribute to the protectio n of human health and 
the environment and approximate related provisions  to ensure the functioning of the internal 
market in the field of electrica l and electronic equipment. This  is done by allowing the use of 
otherwise banned substances for specific applic ations, in line with the provisions and under 
the conditions of RoHS 2 and the therein esta blished procedure for the adaptation of the 
Annexes III and IV to scientif ic and technical progress. 
In accordance with the principle of proportiona lity, the measure does not go beyond what is 
necessary to achieve its objective. 
The proposal has no implications for the EU budget.   
EN 5   EN COMMISSION DELEGATED DIRECTIVE (EU) .../… 
of XXX  
amending, for the purposes of adapting to sc ientific and technical progress, Annex III to 
Directive 2011/65/EU of the European Parlia ment and of the Council as regards an 
exemption for cadmium in colour converting light-emitting diodes (LEDs) for use in 
display systems 
(Text with EEA relevance) 
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, 
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Having regard to Directive 2011/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 
8 June 2011 on the restriction of  the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and 
electronic equipment
7, and in particular Ar ticle 5(1)(a) thereof, 
Whereas: (1) Directive 2011/65/EU requires Member States  to ensure that electrical and electronic 
equipment placed on the market does not contain cadmium. 
(2) Point 39 in Annex III to Directive 2011/65/EU exempted the use of cadmium in colour 
converting light-emitting diodes (LEDs) for illumination and display applications from 
the prohibition until 1 July 2014. The Commi ssion received an application for renewal 
of this exemption before 1 January 2013, in accordance with Article  5(5) of Directive 
2011/65/EU. 
(3) Colour converting LEDs using quantum dots have been shown advantageous as 
compared to earlier technology regarding ener gy efficiency and co lour performance. 
The overall balance of the use of cadmium-based quantum dots in displays has a positive impact due to their lower energy consumption as compared to currently 
available alternative technologies. The to tal negative environmental, health and 
consumer safety impacts caused by substitution of cadmium-based quantum dots in 
display applications where quantum dots ar e used are likely to outweigh the total 
environmental, health and consum er safety benefits thereof. 
(4) The use of cadmium selenide in downshifting cadmium-based semiconductor 
nanocrystal quantum dots for use in display lighting applications should therefore be 
exempted from the prohibition for the peri od of two years after the publication of the 
Delegated Directive in the Official Journal of the European Union. This short validity 
period for the exemption is unlikely to ha ve adverse impacts on innovation and the 
development of cadmium free alternatives. 
(5) Cadmium-based quantum dot LEDs for i llumination are not ye t available on the 
market and their potential advantages in comparison with existing technologies are not 
properly quantifiable, thus a renewal of  the exemption as regards illumination 
applications is not justified. 
                                                 
7 OJ L 174, 1.7.2011, p. 88.  
EN 6   EN (6) Annex III to Directive 2011/65/EU should therefore be amended accordingly,  
 HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE: 
Article 1 
Annex III to Directive 2011/65/EU is amended as  set out in the Annex to this Directive. 
Article 2 
1. Member States shall adopt and publish, by [12 months after the date of entry into 
force of this directive]  at the latest, the laws, re gulations and administrative 
provisions necessary to comply with this Directive. They shall forthwith communicate to the Commission the text of those provisions. 
They shall apply those provisions from [12 months after the date  of entry into force 
of this directive + 1 day] . 
When Member States adopt those provisions,  they shall contain a reference to this 
Directive or be accompanied by such a reference on the occasion of their official publication. Member States shall determin e how such reference is to be made. 
2. Member States shall communicate to the Commission the text of the main provisions 
of national law which they adopt in the field covered by this Directive. 
Article 3 
This Directive shall enter into force on the tw entieth day following that of its publication in 
the Official Journal of  the European Union . 
Article 4 
This Directive is addressed to the Member States. 
Done at Brussels, 
 For the Commission 
 The President  […]