REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

On the review and update of the first European Community Implementation Plan in accordance with Article 8 (4) of Regulation No 850/2004 on persistent organic pollutants

Introduction

Regulation (EC) 850/2004[1] on persistent organic pollutants (the POPs Regulation) was adopted in April 2004, in order to implement the Stockholm Convention[2] (the Convention) and the POPs Protocol under the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution[3] (the UNECE Protocol on POPs) within the European Union.

Pursuant to Article 8 (4) of the POPs Regulation, the first European Community Implementation Plan (CIP) was developed in 2007[4]. It identified existing measures at EU level related to POPs, assessed their efficiency and sufficiency in meeting the obligations of the Convention, identified needs for further Union level measures and established a plan for implementing further measures.

Further to Article 8 (4) of the POPs Regulation, a review and update of the CIP has now been considered appropriate in light of a number of changes in the regulatory landscape:

The inclusion of a number of new POPs into the Stockholm Convention and the UNECE Protocol on POPs[5]; the technical and legislative progress made in the area, as well as the findings of the Commission Report COM (2010) 514 on the application of the POPs Regulation

The reviewed and updated CIP will be referred to as the Union Implementation Plan (UIP) on POPs and a Commission Staff Working Document[6] of this UIP is attached as an annex to this Report.

Summary of the Accompanying Staff Working Document

The Preface of the Staff Working Document (SWD) provides an overview of the international legislative framework in which the POPs Regulation operates, including a summary of the UNECE Protocol on POPs and the Stockholm Convention.

Part 1 of the SWD presents a status quo of the EU's execution of its obligations as a Party to the above-mentioned international frameworks. It describes the relevant EU legislation put in place (including the POPs Regulation, REACH[7], and the CLP Regulation[8]) as well as the financial instruments that support implementation. In an effort to provide as detailed a picture as possible, Part 1 proceeds to give an overall assessment of POPs, regarding their production, their use, their placing on the market as well as with regard to existing stockpiles and the contamination of the waste stream.

In Part 2 of the SWD, there is an in-depth analysis of each individual obligation of the Stockholm Convention affecting the EU's treatment of POPs. Subsequent to this analysis, the Commission identifies 26 technical measures to improve implementation of the EU's obligations under Stockholm.

[1] OJ L 229, 29.6.2004, p. 5

[2] The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, 22nd May, 2001

[3] UNECE (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe) Protocol to the 1979 Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution on Persistent Organic Pollutants

[4] SEC (2007) 341

[5] Ibid. 3

[6] SWD(2014) 172

[7] Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH)

[8] Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 concerning the Classification, Labelling and Packaging of chemical substances and mixtures.