1^4.^1 Official]ournal of the European Communities ^oCrt^^ 
Opinion on the proposal foraCouncil Directive on the approximation of the laws of the 
member states relatm^ to cosmeuc products^ 
^IBCIO^O^ 
On^l^o^emberl^O, the Council decided to consult the Economic and social Committee, 
under Article i^A of theTreaty establishing the European Economic Community, on the 
abo^ementioned proposal. 
The section for protection of the Environment, Public health and Consumer Affairs,which 
was responsible for preparing the Committee'swork on the subject, adopted its Opinion on 
^Eebruaryl^LThe rapporteur was ABlrProumens. 
At its ^^th plenary session ^meeting of^Eebruary 1^1^,the Economic and social Commit 
tee unanimously adopted the following Opinion. 
The Committee approves the proposal, wich calls for 
nocommentsotherthanthepointsof detail setout 
below. 
L Eoreword 
1.1. The aim of the proposal is to provideaconsolP 
datedversionofDirective^^^BEECof^]ulyl^^, 
as amended in 1^ and 1^ in order to make it 
applicable to Creece, ^pain and Portugal, following 
their accession to the Community. 
1.^.. Directive^D^^EEC has been amendedfive 
times ^Council Directives^ and adapted twelve times 
^Commission Directives^. All these alterations have 
made the Directive difficult to use. 
1.^. The procedure chosen by the Commission is 
thenormalonefor Directives which haveundergone 
successive alterations. 
1.^. It should benotedthatamendmentstakethe 
formof Council Directives and alter the wordingof 
the original Directive. Before being adopted,theyare 
referred to the European Parliament and the E^C.The 
E^C examined all five amendments to the present Direc 
tive. 
Adaptations, on the other hand, take the form of Com 
mission Directives,They are put forward by the Com 
mitteeonadaptationtotechnicalprogress ^Articles^ 
andlO of the Directives and involve purely technical 
changes to the Anne^es.Theyare not referred to the 
Parliament or the E^C. ^. General comments 
^.1. Consolidationof theDirectiveisboundtobe 
helpful to users amongst both Community and national 
authorities. 
lndustry,particularly the many smallcosmetic firms, 
will also benefit, as will other organisations dealing 
with the question of cosmetic products ^trade organic 
ations, users' organisations such as hairdressers and 
beauticians, and consumer associations^. 
^.^. The Committee urges the Commission to ensure 
that ABlember states have fully incorporated the Direc 
tives now being consolidated into national law. 
Any Aiember^tatefailingtomeetthis obligation should 
of course face mfringement proceedings. 
^L The Committee has noticed that some sub 
stances listed in the Annexes may not be manufactured 
or used after ^31 December 1^0. 
The Committee points out in this context that^ 
1^ the proposal is dated^October 1^0^ 
^ aCommission Directive adapting the Directive for 
the thirteenth time is due for adoption very shortly. 
This will clear up the problem of deadlines for 
manufactureBuse mentioned above. 
^ot^e^,^ meBr^D.^ ^Bl. The Commission obviously has to clarify the 
situation at some stage—hence thepresentproposal. 
No C 102/24 Official Journal of the European Communities 18. 4. 91 
Adaptations to technical progress are translated into 
Commission Directives each year, and a proposal for a 
Done at Brussels, 27 February 1991. 
1. Summary 
1.1. The proposals submitted to the intergovern­
mental conference on Economic and Monetary Union, 
as well as developments subsequent to the presentation 
of the Delors report, have given rise to this Additional 
Opinion which is divided into: 
— general comments (part 2), 
— comments on monetary policy (part 3), 
— comments on economic and budgetary policy 
(part 4), and 
— comments on the second stage and on transitional 
arrangements for the common currency in the third 
stage (part 5). 
1.2. The principal proposals and recommendations 
of the Additional Opinion sixth amendment will be adopted by the Commission 
very shortly. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Francis STAEDELIN 
1.2.1. After the beginning of the third stage the ECU 
would be introduced as a common currency for all 
twelve Member States (points 5.6.2-5.6.4). The value of 
the ECU, already hardened by then (point 5.3.4), would 
be fixed on the day of its introduction by the European 
System of Central Banks (ESCB) on the basis of the 
prevailing exchange rate vis-a-vis the core of stable 
currencies (points 5.6.1-5.6.4). 
1.2.2. All Member States would participate in the 
work of the European System of Central Banks (itself 
responsible for regulating the ECU money supply and 
formulating a common monetary policy) and would be 
involved in the coordination of economic and budgetary 
policies (points 5.6.6-5.6.7). As was the case with the 
exchange-rate mechanism after its introduction in 1979 
(point 5.2.4), waivers could be provided for at the 
beginning of the thrid stage whereby the exchange Opinion on Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) 
(91/C 102/10) 
On 19 November 1990 the Economic and Social Committee decided to draw up an Opinion 
on Economic and Monetary Union in the European Community. This Opinion rounds off 
the ESC's Opinion of 9 October 1989 (OJ No C 329 of 30 December 1989) on the report on 
Economic and Monetary Union in the Community (Delors report) and the ESC's Opinion 
of 16 November 1989 (OJ No C 56 of 7 March 1990) on a) the proposal for a Council 
Decision on the convergence of economic performance and b) the recommendation for a 
Council Decision on cooperation between the central banks of the Member States. 
The Section for Economic, Financial and Monetary Questions, which was asked to carry out 
the preparatory work on the matter, adopted its Opinion on 12 February 1991. The Rappor­
teur was Mr Meyer-Horn. 
At its 284th plenary session (meeting of 27 February 1991) the Economic and Social Committee 
adopted the following Opinion by a large majority, with 6 abstentions.