EN    EN  
 EUROPEAN 
COMMISSION  
Brussels, XXX   
[…](2013) XXX  draft 
  
COMMISSION DIRECTIVE ../…/EU 
of XXX  
amending Directive 2012/9/EU as regards the date for its transposition and the deadline 
for the end of the transitional period 
(Text with EEA relevance) 
  
EN 2   EN COMMISSION DIRECTIVE ../…/EU 
of XXX  
amending Directive 2012/9/EU as regards the date for its transposition and the deadline 
for the end of the transitional period 
(Text with EEA relevance) 
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, 
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Having regard to Directive 2001/37/EC of the Eur opean Parliament and th e Council of 5 June 
2001 on the approximation of the laws, regulati ons and administrative provisions of the 
Member States concerning the manufacture, presentation and sale of tobacco products
1, and in 
particular Article 9(2) thereof, 
Whereas: (1)
 Commission Directive 2012/9/EU2 replaces Annex I to Directive 2001/37/EC, 
providing for new additional health warnings to be used on unit packets of tobacco 
products, as provided for in Articl e 5(2)(b) of Directive 2001/37/EC. 
(2) Directive 2012/9/EU sets 28 March 2014 as  the deadline for its transposition by 
Member States and 28 March 2016 as the deadline for the end of the transitional period provided for in Articl e 3 of that Directive.  
(3)
 Commission Decision 2003/641/EC3 establishes the rules on the use of colour 
photographs or other illust rations as health warnings on tobacco packages. 
(4) Commission Decision C(2005)  1452 of 26 May 2005 establishes the library of 
selected source documents containing colour  photographs or other illustrations for 
each of the additional health warnings lis ted in Annex I to Directive 2001/37/EC. 
(5) Subsequent to the adopti on of Directive 2012/9/EU, the Commission has launched 
studies for the development and testi ng of new colour photographs or other 
illustrations for each of the additional hea lth warnings specified in the Annex to 
Directive 2012/9/EU, replacing Annex I to Directive 2001/37/EC. These studies are 
not yet concluded. 
(6) Member States which require additional warnin gs in the form of co lour photographs or 
other illustrations, as referred to in Article 5(3) of Dir ective 2001/37/EC need to have 
at their disposal the selected source docum ents sufficiently in advance in order to 
transpose Directive 2012/9/EU. 
                                                 
1 OJ L 194, 18.7.2001, p. 26. 
2 Commission Directive 2012/9/EU of 7 March 2012, amending Annex I to Directive 2001/37/EC of the 
European Parliament and of the Council on the approximation of the laws, regulations and 
administrative provisions of the Me mber States concerning the manufacture, presentation and sale of 
tobacco products (OJ L 69, 8.3.2012, p. 15). 
3 Commission Decision 2003/641/EC of 5 September 2003 on the use of colour photographs or other 
illustrations as health warnings on tobacco packages (OJ L 226, 10.9.2003, p. 24).   
EN 3   EN (7) Given the complexity of the process of updating the library of selected source 
documents and amending Decision C(2005) 1452, th ere is a risk that the process will 
not have been concluded within a timeframe that would allow Member States sufficient time to comply with the deadlin e for transposition of Directive 2012/9/EU. 
(8)
 In order to ensure that Member States have  adequate time it is appropriate to postpone 
the deadlines for the trans position of Directive 2012/9/EU  and for the end of the 
transitional period provided  for by that Directive. 
(9) The measures provided for in this Directiv e are in accordance with the opinion of the 
Committee set up by Article 10(1)  of Directive 2001/37/EC, 
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE: 
Article 1 
Directive 2012/9/EU is amended as follows: 1. In Article 2(1) ‘28 March 2014’  is replaced by ‘28 March 2016’. 
 
2. In Article 3 ‘28 March 2016’  is replaced ‘28 March 2018’. 
Article 2 
This Directive shall enter into force on the twentieth day following its publication in the 
Official Journal of the European Union . 
Article 3 
This Directive is addressed to the Member States. 
Done at Brussels,  
 For the Commission 
 Tonio BORG  Member of the Commisison