EN Official Journal of the European Union L 349/50

COUNCIL DECISION

of 1 December 2014

on the position to be taken, on behalf of the European Union, at the Eighth Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents with regard to the proposal for an amendment of Annex I to that Convention

(2014/871/EU)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 192(1) in conjunction with Article 218(9) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

Whereas:

(1) The Union is a Party to the Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents done at Helsinki on 17 March 1992 (1) (‘the Convention’).

(2) Annex I to the Convention contains categories and named hazardous substances for the purpose of defining hazardous activities.

(3) In accordance with Article 26(4) of the Convention, any amendment to Annex I to the Convention shall become effective, for those Parties to the Convention which have not notified their objection, 12 months after its communication to the Parties by the Executive Secretary upon its adoption at the Conference of the Parties by a nine-tenths majority of the Parties present and voting at the meeting, provided that at least sixteen Parties have not notified objections.

(4) The text of the proposal for an amendment to Annex I to the Convention was agreed within the Working Group on the Development of the Convention, endorsed by the Bureau of the Convention, and will be proposed for adoption at the Eighth Conference of the Parties taking place in Geneva from 3 to 5 December 2014.

(5) The amendment to Annex I to the Convention would fully align that Annex to Annex I to Directive 2012/18/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (2).

(6) The amendment to Annex I to the Convention should therefore be approved.

(7) At the time of the conclusion of the Convention, the Union made reservations concerning the application of the Convention in accordance with the Community's internal rules. Those reservations were based on discrepancies between Annex I to the Convention and the Union legislation in force. Those discrepancies will no longer exist after Annex I to the Convention has been amended. Those reservations should, therefore, be lifted once the amendment to Annex I to the Convention has become effective,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

The position to be taken on the Union's behalf at the Eighth Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents shall be to support, in substance, the proposed amendment of Annex I to the Convention including the corrigendum thereto as attached to this Decision.

Article 2

The President of the Council is hereby authorised to designate the person(s) empowered to withdraw on behalf of the Union the remaining reservations made pursuant to Decision 98/685/EC (3) subject to the amendment to Annex I to the Convention referred to in Article 1 of this Decision becoming effective pursuant to Article 26(4) of the Convention.

Article 3

This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its adoption.

Done at Brussels, 1 December 2014. For the Council The President B. LORENZIN

(1) OJ L 326, 3.12.1998, p. 5.

(2) Directive 2012/18/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2012 on the control of major-accident hazards involving dangerous substances, amending and subsequently repealing Council Directive 96/82/EC (OJ L 197, 24.7.2012, p. 1).

(3) Council Decision 98/685/EC of 23 March 1998 concerning the conclusion of the Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents (OJ L 326, 3.12.1998, p. 1).

DRAFT DECISION AMENDING ANNEX I TO THE CONVENTION Submitted by the Working Group on the Development of the Convention The Conference of the Parties, Recognizing the need to update the categories of substances and mixtures and the named substances and their threshold quantities, as contained in annex I to the Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents, for the purposes of introducing the criteria of the United Nations Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (ST/SG/AC.10/30/Rev.4) and of maintaining consistency with the corresponding European Union legislation, Bearing in mind its decision to undertake a revision of the hazardous substances and their quantities as contained in annex I and its decision 2004/4 on establishing the Working Group on the Development of the Convention, Acknowledging the proposal to amend annex I, drawn up by the Working Group on the basis of a thorough review, Amends annex I to the Convention on hazardous substances for the purposes of defining hazardous activities by replacing it with the text set out in the annex to this decision.