EN    EN EN  
EN    EN  COMMISSION OF THE E UROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
Brussels, 17.9.2008 
. 
Draft 
COMMISSION DECISION 
of […] 
amending, for the purposes of adapting to technical progress, the Annex to Directive 
2002/95/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards exemptions for 
applications of lead, cadmium and mercury  
EN 2   EN Draft 
COMMISSION DECISION 
of […] 
amending, for the purposes of adapting to technical progress, the Annex to Directive 
2002/95/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards exemptions for 
applications of lead, cadmium and mercury 
(Text with EEA relevance) 
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, 
Having regard to the Treaty esta blishing the European Community, 
Having regard to Directive 2002/95/EC of the Eu ropean Parliament and of the Council of 27 
January 2003 on the restriction of the use of cer tain hazardous substan ces in electrical and 
electronic equipment1, and in particular Article 5(1)(b) thereof, 
Whereas: (1) Directive 2002/95/EC requires the Commi ssion to evaluate certain hazardous 
substances prohibited pursuant to Article 4(1) of that Directive. 
(2) Certain materials and components containi ng lead and cadmium should be exempted 
from the prohibition, since the elimination of these hazardous s ubstances in those 
specific materials and components is still tec hnically or scientifically impracticable.  
(3) The substitution for lead in solders for the soldering of thin copper wires of 100 µm 
diameter and less in power transfor mers is not yet practicable.  
(4) No practicable substitutes for lead in th e plating layer of hi gh voltage diodes on the 
basis of a zinc borat glass body are available.  
(5) The substitution of cadmium and cadmium oxide in thick film pastes used on 
aluminium bonded beryllium oxide is currently no t practicable. 
(6) Substitute technologies to replace analogue soun d processing circuits in order to avoid 
the use of cadmium based optocouplers in a ll professional audio applications should 
become practicable by 31 December 2009.  
(7) Substitution for mercury used as a cathode sp uttering inhibitor in DC plasma displays 
with content of up to 30 mg per display is currently technically impracticable, but 
should be practicable by 1 July 2010. 
                                                
 
1 OJ L 37, 13.2.2003, p. 19.   
EN 3   EN (8) Directive 2002/95/EC should therefore be amended accordingly. 
(9) Pursuant to Article 5(2) of Directive 2002/95/EC, the Commission has consulted the 
relevant parties.  
(10) The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the 
Committee established by Artic le 18 of Directive 2006/ 12/EC of the European 
Parliament and of the Council2, 
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:  
Article 1 
The Annex to Directive 2002/95/EC is amended as  set out in the Annex to this Decision.  
Article 2  
This Decision is addressed to the Member States. 
Done at Brussels,  
 For the Commission 
 Stavros Dimas  Member of the Commission 
                                                
 
2 OJ L 114, 27.4.2006, p. 9.   
EN 4   EN ANNEX  
In the Annex to Directive 2002/95/EC, th e following points 33 to 38 are added:  
"33. Lead in solders for the soldering of thin  copper wires of 100 µm diameter and less in 
power transformers. 
34. Lead in cermet-based trimmer potentiometer elements. 35. Cadmium in photoresistors fo r optocouplers applied in profe ssional audio equipment until 
31 December 2009. 
36. Mercury used as a cathode sput tering inhibitor in DC plasma displays with a content up to 
30 mg per display until 1 July 2010. 
37. Lead in the plating layer of high voltage di odes on the basis of a zinc borat glass body. 
38. Cadmium and cadmium oxide in thick film  pastes used on aluminium bonded beryllium 
oxide."