EN    EN  
 EUROPEAN  
COMMISSION 
Brussels, XXX   
[…](2015) XXX  draft 
  
COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) …/… 
of XXX  
amending Annex XVII to Regu lation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament 
and of the Council concerning the Regist ration, Evaluation, Authorisation and 
Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) as re gards asbestos fib res (chrysotile) 
(Text with EEA relevance) 
  
EN 2   EN COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) …/… 
of XXX  
amending Annex XVII to Regulation (EC)  No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament 
and of the Council concerning the Regist ration, Evaluation, Authorisation and 
Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) as re gards asbestos fibres (chrysotile) 
(Text with EEA relevance) 
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, 
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the 
Council of 18 December 2006 concerning the Regi stration, Evaluation, Authorisation and 
Restriction of Chemicals (REA CH), establishing a European Chemicals Agency, amending 
Directive 1999/45/EC and repealing Council  Regulation (EEC) No 793/93 and Commission 
Regulation (EC) No 1488/94 as  well as Council Directive 76/769/EEC and Commission 
Directives 91/155/EEC, 93/67/ EEC, 93/105/EC and 2000/21/EC
1, and in particular Article 
68 (1) thereof, 
Whereas: (1) Entry 6 of Annex XVII to Regulation (EC)  No 1907/2006 prohibits the manufacture, 
placing on the market and use of asbestos  fibres, and of articles and mixtures 
containing these fibres  added intentionally. 
(2) Member States could exempt the placing on the market and use of diaphragms 
containing chrysotile fibres for existing electrolysis installations. This included the possibility to exempt the placing on the mark et of chrysotile fibres for use in the 
manufacture or maintenance of such diaphr agms and the use of chrysotile fibres for 
these purposes. 
(3) Out of five electrolysis installations in relation to which Member States reported
2 in 
2011 that they had granted exemptions, only two, in Sweden and Germany, remain in 
operation. 
(4) On 18 January 2013, pursuant to th e obligation in paragraph 1 of entry 6, the European 
Commission requested the European Chemical s Agency (“the Agency”) to prepare an 
Annex XV dossier in accordance with Article 69(1) of REACH with a view to prohibiting the placing on the market and us e of diaphragms cont aining chrysotile. On 
17 January 2014, the Agency finalised th e Annex XV dossier, which proposed to 
amend the existing restriction by limiting th e duration of the exemptions granted by 
Member States for the placing on the ma rket and use of diaphragms containing 
chrysotile and of chrysotil e fibres used exclusively in their maintenance to 31 
December 2025 and enabling Member States  to impose a reporting requirement to 
allow better monitoring and enforcement. 
                                                
 
1 OJ L 396, 30.12.2006, p 1. 
2 Exemptions granted by EU countries and EEA-EFTA States on as bestos contained in articles pur suant to Entry 6 of Annex XVII 
of Regulation (EC) 1907/2006 (REACH).  http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/chemic als/files/reach/restr-asbestos-report_en.pdf    
EN 3   EN (5) The dossier was subsequently put out to public consultation and submitted for 
examination by the Committee for Risk Assessment (hereinafter ‘RAC’) and the Committee for Socio-Economic Anal ysis (hereinafter ‘SEAC’). 
(6) On 26 November 2014 RAC adopted an opini on concluding that there is no worker 
exposure to chrysotile in one plant and that in the other exposure is minimised by risk 
management measures which are effective in  controlling potential risks from the use 
of chrysotile to a risk level of low concern. The opinion further concluded that there is 
no release of chrysotile to the environment and therefore the benefits of immediate 
closure of the two plants would be neg ligible. Furthermore, due to process and 
technology specific considerations in one of  the plants, no suita ble alternative was 
available. 
(7) In order to further the objective of phasing ou t the use of chrysotile  in the EU and to 
improve the clarity and transp arency of the existing exem ption, RAC agreed with the 
proposed amendment set out in the Annex XV dossier. The opinion  also concluded 
that action on a Union-wi de basis is necessary. 
(8) On 9 March 2015, SEAC adopted an opinion noting that in one plant the existing 
asbestos containing cells would be dism antled by 2025 and that in the other, the 
operator claimed that on-goi ng production leve l testing using chrysotile-free 
diaphragms in its current installation woul d lead to full substitution at the latest by 
2025. SEAC also concluded that immediate closure of this pl ant would result in costs 
in terms of lost value adde d and jobs and took note of the commitment of the operator 
of the latter plant to ce ase all imports of chrysotil e by the end of 2017. Given the 
overall objective of phasing out the use of chrysotile in the EU and in order to improve 
the clarity and transparency of the existing exemption, SEAC  advised that the duration 
of the exemptions granted by Member St ates for the placing on the market of 
diaphragms and fibres should be limited to  the end of 2017 and concluded that the 
proposed amendment of the existing restric tion, as modified by SEAC, is the most 
appropriate Union wide measure. 
(9) Commission Implementing Decision 2013/732/EU
3, establishing the best available 
techniques (BAT) conclusions under Directive 2010/75/EU of the European 
Parliament and of the Council on industrial emissions (IED), stipulates that the use of 
asbestos diaphragms is not considered BAT and accordingly permit conditions for chlor-alkali installations ope rated in the Union must be updated by 12 December 2017 
so that those installations do no longer use asbestos di aphragms from that date. 
However, unlike for mercury cells which are not considered BAT under any circumstances, Member States may dete rmine that, in specific and exceptional 
circumstances, asbestos diaphragms may be us ed in a particular installation for a well-
defined longer period and under conditions  consistent with the environmental 
objectives of the IED, provided that the conditions and duration of such use are 
specified in a legally binding way. 
(10) Since the adoption of the SEAC opinion, the operator of  the plant in which full 
substitution is envisaged by 2025 has ente red into a binding agreement with the 
authorities of the Member State concerned with a view to guaranteeing the gradual 
substitution of diaphragms containing chryso tile by a non-asbestos alternative material 
from 2014 on and achieving full substitution at the latest by 30 June 2025. Therefore it 
is appropriate that the duration of the exem ption granted by Member States to permit 
                                                
 
3 OJ, L332/34 of 11.12.2013  
EN 4   EN the use of diaphragms containing chrysotile and of chrysotile fibres used exclusively 
in their maintenance is limited to 30 June 2025. 
(11) Moreover, under the binding agreement the operator ag reed to stop importing 
chrysotile fibres and diaphragms cont aining chrysotile by the end of 2017. The 
operator subsequently confirmed that impor ts have already ceased as it has acquired 
sufficient chrysotile fibres to manage th e transition to an alternative material. 
Therefore it is appropriate to terminate the possibility that allows Member States to 
permit the placing on the market of diaphragms  containing chrysotile and of chrysotile 
fibres exclusively for their maintenance. 
(12) A report indicating the amount of chrysotile used in diaphragms in the installations 
benefiting from exemptions should be  transmitted to the Commission. Union 
legislation on the protection of workers' h ealth and safety  already provides that 
employers must reduce workers' exposure to chrysotile fibres to a minimum and in any 
case below an established limit value.  Memb er States may set  more stringent limit 
values for such fibres in air and may re quire  their regular measurement/monitoring. 
The results of any such measurement/monito ring should be included in the report. 
(13) The Forum for Exchange of Informati on on Enforcement was consulted and its 
recommendations were taken into account. 
(14) Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 should therefore be amended accordingly. 
(15) The measures provided for in this Regulati on are in accordance with the opinion of the 
Committee established under Article 133 of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, 
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 
Article 1 
Annex XVII to Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 is amended in accordance with the Annex to 
this Regulation. 
Article 2 
This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in 
the Official Journal of  the European Union . 
This Regulation shall be binding in  its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. 
Done at Brussels, 
 For the Commission 
 The President  Jean-Claude Juncker