Notification according to Article 95(4) of the EC Treaty

Request for authorisation to maintain national provisions incompatible with a Community Harmonisation Measure

(2003/C 100/07)

(Text with EEA relevance)

1. By letter of 17 January 2003, the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, pursuant to Article 95(4) of the EC Treaty, notified to the Commission its national provisions concerning the use of Short Chain Chlorinated Paraffins (SCCP) with a view to maintaining them, by way of derogation from the provisions of Directive 2002/45/EC(1) of the European Parliament and of the Council amending for the twentieth time Council Directive 76/769/EEC(2) relating to restrictions on the marketing and use of certain dangerous substances and preparations (short-chain chlorinated paraffins). The Commission received the Dutch notification on 21 January 2003.

2. Article 95(4) provides that "if, after the adoption by the Council or by the Commission of a harmonisation measure, a Member State deems it necessary to maintain national provisions on grounds of major needs referred to in Article 30, or relating to the protection of the environment or the working environment, it shall notify the Commission of these provisions as well as the grounds for maintaining them".

3. According to Article 95(6), "the Commission shall, within six months of the notification approve or reject the national provisions involved after having verified whether or not they are a means of arbitrary discrimination or a disguised restriction to trade between Member States and whether or not they shall constitute an obstacle to the functioning of the internal market".

4. The national provisions(3) implement Parcom Decision 95/1 of June 1995 on the Phasing out of SCCPs, which was in turn taken in the framework of the Convention for the Prevention of Marine Pollution from Land-Based Sources (OSPAR Convention). They prohibit the use of SCCP in three applications, i.e. as plasticisers in paints, coatings or sealants, in metal-working fluids and as flame-retardant in rubber, plastics or textiles, with certain limited temporary derogations.

5. The Dutch Government deems it necessary to maintain its national provisions on grounds of human health and environmental protection and, to this effect, refers to a study on the ecotoxicological effects of chlorinated paraffins(4). The Dutch Government also indicates that the maintenance of those provisions is necessary to allow the Kingdom of the Netherlands to continue to comply with the obligations arising from the OSPAR Convention as well as Decision 95/1, to which it is a contracting party.

6. The Commission reminds interested parties that possible observations on the Dutch notification received later than one month after the publication of this Notice in the Official Journal of the European Union are in principle unlikely to be considered. Furthermore, the Commission reserves the right to communicate any observations that may be submitted to it to the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

7. Further information regarding the notification can be obtained from: Janine van Aalst ( tel. (31-70) 351 93 06 ), Wini Broadbelt ( tel. (31-70) 351 83 68 )

Contact point in the European Commission: Giovanni Indirli European Commission Directorate-General "Enterprise"

Unit E3 "Chemicals"

AN 88 4/39 B - 1049 Brussels tel. (32-2) 295 12 65 fax (32-2) 295 02 81 e-mail: giovanni.indirli@cec.eu.int

(1) OJ L 177, 6.7.2002, p. 21.

(2) OJ L 262, 27.9.1967, p. 201.

(3) Decision of 3 November 1999 laying down rules prohibiting the use of short-chain chlorinated paraffins (Chlorinated Paraffins Decision, Chemical Substances Act (WMS)), Staatsblad van het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden, Jaargang 1999, 478.

(4) "Ecotoxicological advice on chlorinated paraffins", D. F. Kalf and E. J. van de Plassche, February 1996 (carried out on behalf of the Directorate for Environmental Protection, Directorate for Chemicals, External Safety, and Radiation Protection within the framework of project "Existing chemicals: National Program (MAP Milieu, Bestaande Stoffen Nationaal, nr. 601503)").