COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 251 (2) of the EC Treaty - Common position of the Council on the amended proposal for a European Parliament and Council Directive on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment

1. Procedural matters

The Proposals for a European Parliament and Council Directive on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment (COM (2000) 347 final) was adopted by the Commission on 13 June 2000 and published in the Official Journal C 365E of 19 December 2000.

The Economic and Social Committee gave its Opinion on 29 November 2000.

The Committee of Regions gave its Opinion on 14 February 2001.

The European Parliament gave its Opinion (First Reading) on 15 May 2001.

The Commission adopted the amended proposal on 6 June 2001 (COM (2001)316 final)

The Council adopted its Common Position on 4.12.2001

2. Purpose of the Directive

The proposal establishes restrictions on the use of certain hazardous substances - "RoHS" - (heavy metals and brominated flame retardants) in electrical and electronic equipment. The restrictions will take effect in the year 2008. A technical Annex lists a number of derogations and may be modified by Committee procedure.

3. Commission comments

3.1 General comments

The Commission accepted 15 of the 23 amendments proposed by the European Parliament in its first reading, either totally or partially. These amendments were mentioned in the amended Proposal of 6 June 2001 [COM(2001) 316 final].

After the European Parliament first reading, the Council adopted a Common Position unanimously on 4.12.2001.

10 of the 23 amendments proposed by the European Parliament have been incorporated in the Common Position either in full, or in part or principle.

Overall, the Common Position is in line with the original proposal of the Commission, since the general structure as well as the main provisions of the proposal have been approved by the Council.

3.2 Detailed comments

3.2.1 Amendment by the parliament accepted by the Commission and incorporated in full or in part in the Common Position

Amendments 1, 4, 9, 10, 12, 17, 18, 19, 21, 23 have been incorporated in full or in part in the Common Position.

Am. 1 has been incorporated in part into recital 7. Am. 4 has been incorporated in part and spirit in Recital 11. Am. 9 has been incorporated in part into Article 2(1). Am. 10 has been incorporated in part in Article 4(1). Am. 12 has been incorporated in part Article 5(2). Am. 17 has been fully introduced in Article 7. Am 18 has been incorporated in Article 8. Am. 19 has been incorporated in Article 9. Am. 21 has been incorporated in part in the annex part. Am. 23 has been incorporated in part in Article 2(1).

3.2.2 Amendments by the Parliament accepted by the Commission in full or in part but not incorporated in the Common Position

Ams. 7, 11, 13, 22, 35 have been accepted in full or in part by the Commission but have not been incorporated in the Common Position.

The Council did not accept the following amendments:

* Am. 7 on the recital referring to the need to ensure the availability of spare parts

* Am. 11 limiting the adaptation of Article 4 to the addition of substances;

* Am. 13 requiring to inform the European Parliament as regards decision taken pursuant to Article 5;

* Am. 22 introducing the issue of risks analysis in Article 4;

* Am. 35 referring to the addition of brominated flame retardants;

3.2.3 New provisions introduced by the Council

The main changes adopted by the Council in addition to those resulting from Parliament amendments concern:

* In Article 3, the definition now includes distant communication selling

* Article 4 includes the term "at the latest" after "1 January 2007"

* Article 5(1)(c ) requires a revision every 4 years of the annexe in order to delete as appropriate materials and components from this annexe

* Article 6 first paragraph on the review now reads "within 2 years after the entry into force" instead of "by 31 December 2003 at the latest"

* A second paragraph has been added in Article 6 requiring the Commission to present Proposals for inclusion in the scope of this Directive of equipment which falls under categories 8 and 9 of the WEEE Directive. A third paragraph requires the Commission to study the need to adapt the list of prohibited substances on the basis of scientific evidence and taking the precautionary principle into account.

* In the Annex, the changes have introduced changes as regards the content of mercury in lamps and has deleted the reference to light bulbs. The Commission is also required to evaluate several applications as a matter of priority in order to establish whether these items are to be amended accordingly.

4. Conclusion

The Commission welcomes the adoption of the Common Position and notes that this is overall in line with the original Commission Proposal. However, the formulation "by 1 January 2007 at the latest" used in Article 4 could create a transitional fragmentation of the internal market in case Member States would bring forward the ban of the targeted substances at different dates.