EN    EN  
 EUROPEAN  
COMMISSION 
Brussels, XXX   
[…](2014) XXX  draft 
  
COMMISSION DELEGATED DIRECTIVE ../…/EU 
of XXX  
amending, for the purposes of adapting to technical progress, Annex III to Directive 
2011/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards an exemption for 
cadmium in illumination and di splay lighting applications 
(Text with EEA relevance) 
  
EN 2   EN EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM  
1. CONTEXT  OF THE  DELEGATED  ACT 
Subject: Commission Delegated Directive amending, for the purposes of ad apting to technical 
progress, Annex III of the Directive 2011/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards an exemption for applications containing cadmium. 
Directive 2011/65/EU of the European Parl iament and of the C ouncil of 8 June 2011 
(RoHS 2)
1 restricts the use of certain hazardous  substances (lead, mercury, cadmium, 
hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphe nyls, polybrominated diphenyl ethers) in 
electrical and electronic equi pment. RoHS 2 (recast) entered into force on 21 July 2011. 
The restricted substances are listed in A nnex II of RoHS 2. Annexes III and IV list 
exemptions of materials and components from the substance restrictions under Article 4(1). 
Article 5 provides for the adaptation to scie ntific and technical progress (inclusion and 
deletion of exemptions) of Annexes III and IV. Purs uant to Article 5(1)a, exemptions shall be 
included in Annexes III and IV, provided that  such inclusion does not weaken the 
environmental and health protection afforded  by Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 and where 
any of the following conditions is fulfilled: their elimination or substitution via design changes 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 
not ensured; or the total nega tive environmental, health and consumer safety impacts caused 
by substitution are likely to ou tweigh the total environmental, health and consumer safety 
benefits thereof. 
Article 5 of RoHS 2 establishes a procedure for the adaptation of the Annexes to scientific 
and technical progress. RoHS 2 Article 5(1)  provides that the Co mmission shall include 
materials and components of EEE fo r specific applicati ons in the lists in Annexes III and IV 
by means of individual delegated acts in accordance with Article 20.  
2. CONSULTATIONS
 PRIOR  TO THE  ADOPTION  OF THE  ACT 
In line with the provisions in Article 5(3) and Annex V fo r granting, renewing or revoking an 
exemption, which allow stakeholders to apply fo r an exemption of the restricted substance , 
the Commission has received almost 50 requests for new exemptions since the publication of 
RoHS 2. With a view to evaluate the re quested exemptions, the Commission commissioned 
several studies and carried out the requisite technical and scie ntific assessment including an 
official stakeholder consultation2 for each application.3 The final report, written by 
consultants Oeko Institute and ap proved by DG Environment, for this application is available 
on the consultants' webpage4; stakeholders and Member Stat es were notified. The project 
page is accessible via the DG Environment webpage5. 
                                                 
1 OJ L 174, 1.7.2011, p. 88. 
2 http://ec.europa.eu/environment/consultations/rohs7_en.htm ; consultation period 19 August to 11 
November 2013. 
3 The consultation list is regularly updated and maintained by the consultants in cooperation with the 
Commission, and includes electronics related industry organisations, manufacturers and suppliers, 
recyclers, consumer associations, NGOs, acad emia, Member States' representatives, etc. 
4 Direct link to evaluation and recommendation: 
http://rohs.exemptions.oeko.info/fileadmin/user_upl oad/RoHS_IX/20140422_RoHS2_Evaluation_Ex_Requests_
2013-1-5_final.pdf , pages 40-91. 
5 http://ec.europa.eu/en vironment/waste/rohs_eee/ studies_rohs1_en.htm.  
EN 3   EN Subsequently, the Commission consulted the o fficial expert group fo r delegated acts under 
RoHS 2. A meeting with consultants and e xperts was held on 25 June 2014, a consolidated 
recommendation with all necessary background in formation was sent out on 1 July 2014 and 
experts were invited to comment on the proposal by 25 August 2014. The expert group 
unanimously supported the proposal. All necessary st eps pursuant to Article 5(3) to (7) have 
been performed. Council and Parliament  were notified of all activities. 
According to the final report, the following t echnical information as  discussed in public 
consultation was collected (for further information see footnote 4): 
Existing Annex III exemption 39 permits the us e of cadmium in colour converting II-VI 
LEDs for solid state illumination and displays . The colour converting component in LEDs 
consists of cadmium containing quantum dots. Quantum dots are state of the art technology 
with significant advantages regarding energy efficiency and colour performance. Exemption 39 expired on 1 July 2014. The Commission receiv ed an application for renewal of exemption 
39 in December 2012 and a related application speci fically for Cd quantum dots in displays in 
2013. In consultation with the Commission, the consultant decided to  address in their 
evaluation both applications as one case. 
The evaluation showed that the use of quantum dots in displays has indeed a positive overall 
impact due to their low energy consumpti on. Quantum dots are a new technology that will 
replace older colour converting designs in ma ny applications in the near future. The 
elimination of quantum dots via design changes is  technically impracticable, as they are a new 
and superior technology. Although it would be desirable to substitute cadmium in quantum dots, Cd-free quantum dots (using e.g. indium phos phide) are still in the scientific research 
stage and years away from production. 
While quantum dot (Cd and Cd-free) LEDs for illumination (lamps) are not available yet, 
display applications (TVs, phones) are already availabl e. Therefore the positive 
environmental impact could only be convincin gly demonstrated for display applications. 
Nevertheless, the original exemption wording which covers illumination and displays should 
be extended for a short period of time to a llow lighting industry to apply for a specific 
exemption, as Cd quantum dot based lighting a pplications are alrea dy in the pre-production 
phase and it is likely that the overall picture will be si milar to the display sector. 
In light of Article 5(1 )(a) criteria one and three, and in orde r to distinguish between the use in 
illumination and the use in display lighting, the current exemption has to be split into two 
exemptions. A new display specific exemption is justified and should be granted until mid-
2018. In parallel, the original exemption 39 should be extended until mid-2017, in order to ensure legal certainty and allow lamp manufactur ers to continue their re search in quantum dot 
technology. These are relatively short transition periods which are unlikely to have adverse 
impacts on innovation and the developm ent of cadmium free alternatives. 
The specific exemption does not weaken the envi ronmental and health protection afforded by 
Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 (REACH) in acco rdance with Article 5 of Directive 
2011/65/EU. 
3. LEGAL
 ELEMENTS  OF THE  DELEGATED  ACT 
The proposed act grants an exemption from the s ubstance restrictions in  Annex II of Directive 
2011/65/EU (RoHS 2), to be listed in Annex III, for the use of cadmium in specific 
applications. 
The proposed instrument is  a delegated directive.  
EN 4   EN The draft delegated directive implements Di rective 2011/65/EU, and in  particular Article 
5(1)(a) thereof. 
The objective of the proposed act is to ensu re legal certainty and sustainable market 
conditions for electronic  manufacturers, by allowing specific applications of otherwise banned 
substances in line with the provisions of RoHS 2 and the therein established procedure for the 
adaptation of the Annexes to scie ntific and tec hnical 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 technical progress, Annex III to Directive 
2011/65/EU of the European Parliament and of  the Council as regards an exemption for 
cadmium in illumination and display lighting applications 
(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 Eu ropean Parliament and of the Council of 8 
June 2011 on the restriction of the use of cert ain hazardous substances in electrical and 
electronic equipment
6, and in particular Article 5(1)(a) thereof, 
Whereas: (1) Directive 2011/65/EU prohibits  the use of cadmium in el ectrical and electronic 
equipment placed on the market. 
(2) Point 39 in Annex III exempted the use of  cadmium in colour converting LEDs for 
illumination and display applications until 1 July 2014. The Commission received an application for renewal of this exemption before 1 January 2013 in accordance with 
Article 5(5), and a more specific applicati on for the use of Cadmium in quantum dots 
for display lighting applications. 
(3) Colour converting LEDs using quantum dots have significant advantages regarding 
energy efficiency and colour performance. Quantum dots are already used in displays 
and are likely to be introduced in illumination applications in the coming years. The use of quantum dots in displays has a positive overall impact due to their low energy consumption. The elimination of quantum dots via design changes is technically impracticable. Cadmium free quantum dots are not yet technically available. 
(4) In order to distinguish between the use in illumination and the use in display lighting, 
the current exemption has to be split into  two exemptions. The use of cadmium in 
downshifting cadmium based semiconductor nanocrystal quantum dots for use in 
display lighting applications should therefor e be exempted from the prohibition until 
30 June 2018. In addition, the validity period of point 39 in Annex III should be extended until 30 June 2017, in order to ensure legal certainty and allow the 
illumination sector to continue their res earch in quantum dot technology. These are 
short transitions periods which are unlikel y to have adverse impacts on innovation and 
the development of cadmium free alternatives. 
(5) Directive 2011/65/EU should therefore be amended accordingly, 
                                                
 
6 OJ L 174, 1.7.2011, p. 88.   
EN 6   EN 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 bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative 
provisions necessary to comply with this Di rective by the last day of the ninth month 
after entry into force at the latest. They shall forthwith communicate to the Commission the text of those provisions. 
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  […]