COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
C0M(91) 544 final 
Brussels, 11 December 1991 
Amended proposal for a 
COUNCIL RgSUlAUQM (EEC) 
concerning a Community award scheme for an Eco-label 
(presented by the Commission pursuant to Article 149(3) 
of the EEC-Treaty) 
z 
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 
1 Tn February 1991 the Commission presented a proposal for a 
Council regulation covering a Community award scheme for an Eco-
label (C0M(91) 37 final) under Article 130S of the Treaty 
establishing the European Economic Community. 
2. The European Parliament adopted, on 10 December 1991, its 
opinion calling on the Commission to amend its proposal 
accordingly, pursuant to Article 149(3) of the EEC Treaty. 
T. The present text contains the amendments proposed by the 
Parliament which were acceptable to the Commission and in 
particular the new compromise Article 7 bis. 
4. Article 7 bis covers the establishment of a consultation 
^orum which the Commission consults prior to the submissison of 
proposals for the establishment of new product groups and 
criteria to the Advisory Committee. The consultation forum is 
composed of representatives from the main interest groups 
namely, industry, commerce, consumer and environmental 
organisations and independent scientists. 
5. The process of awarding labels to individual products is now 
the responsibility of Competent Bodies in Member States rather 
that a central jury. Under the procedure set out in Article 12 
the Competent Body, having evaluated an application for a label, 
advises the Commission of its intention to award a label. The 
Commission arranges for the results of the evaluation to be 
reviewed by other Competent Bodies. If no objections are raised 
within 45 days the Competent Body may award the label. If 
objections are raised then the Competent Body wishing to award 
the label may request the Commission to submit the proposal for 
decision through the Advisory Committee procedure. 
6. A number of changes have been made to the whereas clauses. A 
new clause has been added which underlines the long term goal of 
creating uniform eco-labelling in the Community and the drafting 
of clauses 7 and 9 has been improved. 
7. In addition to changes to the text resulting from the above 
amendments, drafting changes have also been made to Article 1 
(objectives). Article 5 (product groups), Article 6 (general 
principles). Article 7 (elaboration of specific criteria). 
Article 10 (the Eco-label), Article 17 (publication), Article 19 
(advertising) and Article 22 (revision). 
ORIGINAL TEXT ^ 
AMENDED TEXT 
Iff». COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, 
ff.rvmg regard to the Treaty establishing the European 
Economic Community, and in particular Ankle 130s 
thereof, 
Î Ijvmg regard to the proposal from the Commission, 
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament, 
11 jvmg regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social 
Committee, 
Whereas the objectives and principles of the Community's 
environment policy, as set out in the European Community 
Action Programmes on the Environment ('), aim, in 
particular, at preventing, reducing and as far as possible 
eliminating pollution, particularly at source, and ensuring 
sound management of raw materials resources, on the basis 
also of the 'polluter pays' principle; whereas the Fourth 
European Community Action Programme on die 
Environment (1987 to 1991) (2) highlights the opportunity 
to develop a policy towards clean products; 
Whereas the Council Resolution of 7 May 1990 (*) invited 
the Commission to submit as soon as possible a proposal for 
a Community-wide Eco-labelling scheme covering the 
environmental impact during the life cycle of the product; 
Whereas the European Parliament, in its resolution of 19 
June 1987 on waste and landfill policy (4), supported a 
Community Environmental Label for eco-products; 
Whereas there is increased public interest in information 
about products which are environmentally less harmful; 
whereas at least one Member State has already an award 
scheme for such products and several other Member Sûtes 
are considering the setting up of such a scheme; 
Whereas a system to award an Eco-label for environmentally 
less harmful products will highlight more benign alternatives 
and therefore provide consumers and users with guidance; 
Whereas such guidance can best be achieved by establishing 
uniform criteria for the award scheme which apply 
throughout the Community; whereas existing or future 
independent award schemes can continue to exist for a period 
of five years, and at the end of this period the Commission 
should re-examine this solution in the light of the experience ' 
gained; Whereas this Regulation is intended 
to create the basis for uniform 
eco-labelling in* the Community; 
(') OJ NoC 112, 20. 12. 1973, p. 1. 
OJ NoC 139. 13. 6. 1977, p. 1. 
OJ NoC 46, 17. 2. 1983, p. 1. 
OJ NoC 70, 18. 3. 1987, p. 3. 
I2) OJ No C 328. 7. 12. 1987, p. 1. 
P) O' N„C 122. 18. 5. 1990. o. 2. 
ORIGINAL TEXT AMENDED TEXT 
Whereas the award scheme should be 
bayed on voluntary application; 
whoroas such an approach, in relying 
un the market forces, will also 
contribute to research and 
di.-vo 1 opiTicnt, in particular of less 
polluting technologies, and therefore 
innovation; Whereas the' award scheme should be 
based on voluntary application; 
whereas such an v approach, in 
relaying on the market forces, will 
also contribute to research and 
development, in particular of less 
polluting technologies, and 
therefore innovation, whereas the 
ECO-label will thus encourage 
European firms to incorporate the 
environment factor into their 
strategy, thereby improving their 
international competitive position; 
Whereas uniform application of the criteria and compliance 
with procedures should be ensured throughout the 
Community; 
Whereas the award scheme for the 
ECO-label will take into account the-
interests of all groups concerned,' 
industry, commerce, consumers and 
environmentalist, and therefore 
should provide for involvement of 
these groups in the award procedure 
to individual products which conform 
to the established criteria. Whereas the award scheme for the 
ECO-label will take into account 
the interests of all grpups 
concerned, industry, commerce, 
consumers and environmentalist, and 
therefore should provide for 
involvement of these groups in the 
selection of product groups for 
which the label will be awarded and 
the award criteria; 
Whereas this label should complement other existing or 
future Community labelling systems in particular those 
giving information on energy consumption; 
Whereas the European Environment Agency should be made 
responsible for certain tasks in connection with the 
preparation of environmental labels and criteria for the 
award of such labels to products, technologies, goods, 
services and programmes which preserve natural 
resources, y 
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 
J~ 
ORIGINAL TEXT AMENDED TEXT 
CHAPTER I 
OBJECTIVES AND R£LD OF AMPLICATION 
Article I 
i'r.iu Regulation establishes a 
i-'-orutnunity award scheme for an Eco-
.lab-el with a view to promoting 
12roducts which are environmentally 
less harmful, and therefore have 
an overall environmental impact 
significantly less than that of 
other products in the same product 
group. 1. This Regulation establishes £ 
Community award scheme for an Eco-
label with a view to promoting the 
development, manufacture, marketing 
and use of environmentally-friendly 
products which therefore have an 
overall environmental impact 
significantly less than that of 
other products in the same product 
group. 
The award scheme is designed to: 2. The award scheme is designed to: 
encourage manufacturers to 
design and produce products 
which have a reduced 
environmental impact during 
manufacturing, distribution, 
consumption and use as well as 
during disposal after use; 
provide consumers with better 
information on the environmental 
performance of products. encourage manufacturers to 
design and produce products 
which have a reduced 
environmental impact during 
manufacturing, distribution, 
consumption and use as well as 
during disposal after use; 
~ to encourage 
choose consumers to 
products and 
technologies which respect the 
environment. 
These environmentally more benign 
product alternatives should not 
compromise product or workers' 
safety nor significantly affect 
the fitness for use of the 
product. 
3. The ^eduction of environmental 
impact will be achieved through the 
minimisation of: 
use of natural resources and 
energy resources; 
emissions into air, water and to 
soil; 
generation of waste and noise; These environmentally-friendly 
products should not compromise 
product safety or workers' and 
consumera' health and safety nor 
significantly affect the fitness 
for use of the product. 
3. The reduction of environmental 
impact will be achieved through the 
minimisation of: 
- use of natural resources and 
energy resources; 
- use of raw materials; 
- emissions into air, water and to 
soil; 
- generation of waste and noise; 
.irui through the maximisation of 
p, « «lurt. life and, where ajopliça_ble^ 
i though the uae of clean 
t .K.hnologies to ensure a high level 
ni environmental protection. and through the 
lowest-risk, use of clean_,_ 
sustainable 
technologies to ensure a high level 
of environmental protection and to 
p r event de atruction of _____tJie_ 
ecosystem, 
ORIGINAL TEXT AMENDED TEXT 
Article 2 
Field of application 
This Regulation shall not apply to food, drink or 
pharmaceuticals. 
Article 3 
Definitions 
For the purpose of this Regulation: 
(a) 'substance' means chemical elements and their 
compounds as defined in Article 2 of Council Directive 
67/548/EECO; 
(b) 'preparation' means mixtures or solutions as defined in 
Article 2 of Council Directive 88/379/EEC (2); 
(c) 'product group' means products which serve similar 
purposes and which have equivalence of use; 
(d) 'cradle to grave' means the life cycle of a product from 
manufacturing, distribution, consumption and use to 
disposal after use. 
Article 4 
Other Community provisions 
The provisions laid down in this Regulation shall apply 
without prejudice either to other Community provisions 
relating to the classification, packaging and labelling of 
products or to the provisions laid down in Council Directive 
83/189/EEC(»). 
(') OJ No L 196, 16. 8. 1967, p. 1. 
(') OJ No L 187, 16. 7. 1988, p. 14. 
(') OJ No 1.109, 26. 4. 1983, p 8. 
9 
ORIGINAL TEXT AMENDED TEXT 
CHAPTER 1! 
tSTAHl ISHMENT OF PRODUCT GROUPS AND CRtTERlA 
Article 5 
Product groups 
Product groups shall be 
established in accordance with the 
procedure laid down in Article 9. The product groups and their 
period of validity shall be 
established in accordance with 
the procedure laid down in 
Articles 8 and 9, 
2. Each product group shall be 
defined in such a way as to ensure 
that all competing products which 
serve similar purposes and which 
have equivalence of use are included 
in the same group. 
3. General and specific criteria for 
each product group shall conform 
to the requirements of Articles 6 
and 7. 2. Each product croup shall be 
defined in such a way as to ensure 
that all products which serve .the 
same purposes and which have 
equivalence of use are included in 
the same group. ^ 
The specific environmental 
criteria for each product group 
shall conform to the requirements 
of Articles 6 and 7. 
4. Requests for the establishment of a new product group 
shall be addressed to the competent bodies referred to in 
Article 11. The competent body shall decide if it wishes to 
request the Commission to submit a proposal to the advisory 
committee referred to in Article 9. 
ORIGINAL TEXT ? 
AMENDED TEXT 
Article 6 
General principles 
1 . The Kco-label shaLl only be 
awarded to products which -do not 
contravene Community health/ 
and safety 
requirements. environment 1. The Eco-label may be awarded to 
products which satisfy Community 
health, safety and environment 
requirements. 
2. The Eco-label shall not be awarded to substances and 
preparations classified as dangerous in accordance with 
Direaive 67/548/EEC. Nor shall the Eco-label be awarded 
to products containing a substance or preparation classified 
as dangerous in accordance with the said Directive and likely 
to harm man and/or the environment. 
The Eco-label shall only be 
conferred on products manufactured 
by a process which does not 
contravene Community environmental 
legislation and is unlikely to 
harm significantly man and/or the 
environment. The Eco-label shall not . be 
conferred on products 
manufactured by a proc.ess which 
contravenes Community 
environmental legislation or 
that of any Member State or which 
significantly harms man and/or 
the environment. 
4. The Eco-label shall be awarded to products which 
meet the objectives set out in Anicle 1 and represent a 'state 
of the art' approach in contributing to an improvement in the 
quality of the environment. 
Products for which the Eco-label 
has been requested imported into 
the Community shall be subject to 
the same stringent requirements 
as products manufactured in the 
Community. 
ORIGINAL TEXT AMENDED TEXT 
Articlt 7 
Elaboration of specific criteria 
1. Specific environmental criteria 
for each product group shall be 
established using a 'cradle to 
grave' approach including 
consideration of the objectives set 
out in Article 1. The criteria 
shall be established by reference to 
the matrix format shown in Annex 1^. 
shall be based on the use of clean 
technologies where applicable and 
shall ensure a high level of 
environmental protection. 1. Specific environmental criteria 
for each product group shall be 
established using a 'cradle to 
grave' approach subject to the 
provisions of Article 1 and 
Article 6. The criteria shall be 
established by reference to the 
matrix format shown in Annex I; 
they must be clear, precise and 
stringent and based on the use of 
clean, lowest-risk, sustainable 
technologies and shall ensure a high 
level of environmental protection. 
2. The European Environment Agency, hereinafter 
referred to as the 'Agency', shall undertake, at the request of 
the Commission, preparatory work of a scientific and 
technical nature necessary for the establishment of 
'Criteria. 
"10 
ORIGINAL TEXT AMENDED TEXT 
Article 7bis 
1. In order to define the product groups 
and specific environmental criteria 
referred to in Article 7, and before 
establishing a draft to be presented 
to the Committee referred to in 
Article 9, the Commission shall 
consult the main interested groups 
who will meet to this end within a 
consultâtIve forum. 
2. Representatives at the Community 
level of at least the following 
interest groups shall belong to the 
forum : 
- Industry, 
- retailers, 
- consumers organisations, 
-environmental organisations, 
- independent scientists. 
Each of these groups shall have a 
maximum of 3 seats. 
The interest groups which are parties 
to the forum must ensure an 
appropriate representation depending 
on the categories of products 
concerned 
3. The Commission shall take account of 
the opinion delivered by the Forum 
when preparing the draft which is 
submitted to the Committee referred 
to in Art icle 9. 
n 
ORIGINAL TEXT AMENDED TEXT 
Article 8 
Adoption of the specific criteria 
Without prejudice to Anicle 22, the specific environmental 
criteria referred to in Anicle 7 for each product group shall 
be adopted by the Commission in accordance with the 
procedure laid down in Article 9. 
Article 9 
Advisory Committee 
1. The Commission shall be assisted by a committee of an 
advisory nature composed of the representatives of the 
Member States and chaired by the representative of the 
Commission. 
The representative of the Commission shall submit to the 
committee a draft of the measures to be taken. The 
committee shall deliver its opinion on the draft, within a time 
limit which the chairman may lay down according to the 
urgency of the matter, if necessary by taking a vote. 
The opinion shall be recorded in the minutes; in addition, 
each Member State shall have the right to ask to have its 
position recorded in the minutes. 
The Commission shall take the utmost account of the 
opinion delivered by the committee. It shall inform the 
committee of the manner in which its opinion has been taken 
into account. 
2. The Commission may consult the committee on any 
mutter related to the operation of the award scheme for an 
Fco-label. 
ORIGINAL TEXT 0 
AMENDED TEXT <. 
CHAPTER III 
AWARD OF AN ECO-LABEL TO INDIVIDUAL PRODUCTS 
Article 10 
The Eco-label 
To achieve the objectives set out 
in Article 1/ the Eco-label, 
illustrated in Annex II, shall be 
awarded to products best 
fulfilling the requirements of 
Articles 6 and 7. To achieve the objectives set out 
in Article 1, the Eco-label, 
illustrated in Annex II, shall be 
awarded as a logo to products 
fulfilling the requirements of 
Articles 6 and 7. 
Applications for the use of the 
label shall be made in accordance 
with the procedures set out in 
Article 12. 2. Applications for the use of the 
label shall be made in accordance 
with the procedures set out in 
Article 12. 
The decision to award a label to 
individual products amongst those 
which best fulfil the criteria 
referred to in Articles 6 and 7 
shall be taken by the Jury 
established under Article 13. The decision to award a label to 
individual products amongst those 
which fulfil the criteria 
referred to in Articles 6 and 7 
shall be taken by the Competent 
Body referred to in Article 11 in 
accordance with the procedure 
pursuant to Article 12. 
The main reasons for granting the 
Eco-label shall be mentioned, if 
possible, in or near the label in 
code form and shall form an 
integral part of the label in 
accordance with the procedure set 
out in Article 9. 3. To provide consumers with 
sufficiently clear information, 
the main reasons for granting the 
Eco-label shall be mentioned on 
the label in accordance with the 
details of the procedure set out 
in Article 9. 
4. The label shall be awarded for a fixed period of time, 
dependent on the period of validity of the criteria, which may 
be altered where necessary after review. 
5. The Eco-label shall not be used under any 
circumstances before a contract on the conditions of use has 
been concluded with the competent body to which the 
product application was submitted. 
6. The Eco-label shall not be used in a manner likely to 
mislead the consumer. 
^ 
ORIGINAL TEXT AMENDED TEXT 
Article 11 
Designation of competent bodies 
Each Member State shall designate the body or bodies, 
hereinafter referred to as the 'competent body', responsible 
for carrying out the tasks detailed in Article 12 and inform 
the Commission thereof. The competent body shall be 
independent from industrial or commercial interests. 
Article 12 
Requests for award of an Eco-label 
Manufacturers or importers may 
apply for award of a label to the 
Competent Body in the Member State 
in which the product is 
manufactured or into which the 
product is imported. 1. Manufacturers or importers may 
apply for award of a label to the 
Competent Body in the Member 
State in which the product/ is 
manufactured or into which the 
product is imported. 
The Competent Body shall assess 
the environmental performance of 
the product by reference to the 
agreed general principles and 
specific performance criteria for 
the product group. The Competent Body shall assess 
the environmental performance of 
the product by reference to the 
agreed general principles and 
specific environmental criteria 
for the product group. If a 
product satisfies all the 
criteria, the Eco-label shall be 
awarded. 
2. The Competent Body may also 
request that applicants for a 
label submit all or part of the 
product for testing. The applicant shall forward to 
the Competent Body all 
information required for an 
assessment of the product and 
shall, if necessary, make all or 
part of the product available for 
testing. 
ORIGINAL TEXT AMENDED TEXT 
After the product assessment the 
Competent Body shall decide if a 
request for the award of a label 
s h a. 11 be submitted to the Jury 
1219vided for in Article 13. 3. After the product assessment the 
Competent Body shall decide on 
the award of the label. If it 
decides to award the label, it 
shall inform the Commission of 
its decision and of the results 
of its assessment. The 
Commission shall immediately 
notify the other Member States. 
After a period of 45 days after 
such notification, the Competent 
Body may award the Eco-label 
unless the Commission or a Member 
State submits to it, within this 
period, reasoned objections to 
the award of the label. If such 
objections are made. the 
Commission shall, at the reguest 
of the Competent Body, forward to 
the committae"^et—"E—pursuant /to 
Article 9 the proposal for the 
award of the label; 
shall then decide. ...the committee 
4. If an application for a label is rejected the competent 
body shall advise the applicant of the reasons for 
rejection. 
Member States shall provide for an appeal procedure in such 
cases. 
5. An undertaking may withdraw an application for a 
new label, or cease to use an existing label, after notifying the 
competent body. 
On receipt of an application for 
award of the Eco-label, the 
Competent Body may decide that 
the product belongs to none of 
the product groups for which 
criteria have already been 
established. In this case, the 
Competent Body shall decide-
whether to submit to the 
Commission for approval a 
proposal for establishing a new 
product group. 
The Competent Bodies shall kee;. 
records of all applications 
received and submitted fo1-
assessment and of a 1 i 
applications granted and 
rejected. Each Competent Body 
shall forward to the other 
Competent Bodies at regular 
intervals a summary of such data 
in a form jointly established 
with the Commission. 
ORIGINAL TEXT AMENDED TEXT A £ 
a proposal from the Commission 
for the representative of the 
interest groups. 
The Council in nominating the 
rn embers of the Jury shall 
endeavour to achieve . fair. 
balance in the composition of the 
Jury between the various interest 
groups. 8. The members of the Competent 
Body, responsible for assessing an 
application for ti*e label nay in 
no circumstances have any links 
with the firms coneertie<i or 
i itt erest sic* such £ ira® . fca«e 
Artkkt3 
Tfcrpfff 
The Jury 
A Jury is hereby established for the 
award of labels to individual 
products amongst those which best 
meet the reguirements of Articles 6 
and 7. 
1. The Jury shall consist of 18 full 
members, there being for each 
M (. ? ni be r State 
and one ne representative 
representative of the Deleted 
Deleted 
Deleted 
following interest groups; 
- industry 
- commerce 
- consumer organizations 
- environmental organizations 
- workers organizations 
- media 
2. An alternate member shall be 
appointed for each full member. 
3. Full members and alternate members 
of the Jury shall be nominated by 
the Council on the basis of; 
- a proposal from the Member 
States for the representatives 
of Member States Deleted 
Deleted 
ORIGINAL TEXT Aç 
AMENDED TEXT 
'1 • ..The list of the members and the 
alternate members shall be 
published in the Official Journal 
of the European Communities for 
information purposes. 
5. The term of office of full members 
and alternate members shall be 
three years. Their appointments 
shall be renewable. Deleted 
Deleted 
On expiry of their term of office, 
the full members and alternate 
members shall remain in office 
until they are replaced or their 
appointments are renewed. 
A member's term of office shall 
end before the expiry of the three 
year period with his resignation 
or following a communication from 
the Member State concerned 
indicating that the term of office 
is terminated. 
For the remainder of the term of 
office, a member shall be replaced 
in accordance with the procedure 
laid down in paragraph 3. 
The Jury shall elect a chairman 
and an alternate and adopt its 
rules of procedure. Deleted 
Deleted 
Deleted 
9. The Jury shall take all decisions 
on the basis of a two-thirds 
majority of the members. 
10. In considering the proposals 
from the Competent Bodies the 
Jury shall, in awarding labels, 
select those products which best 
meet the reguirements set out in 
Articles 6 and 7. Deleted 
Deleted 
11. If the Jury decides not to award 
the label to an individual 
product, the reasons for the 
rejection shall be stated. Deleted 
1 
ORIGINAL TEXT AMENDED TEXT s> 
1 O The Jury shall communicate its Deleted 
reasoned decisions to the 
applicants and to the 
Commission. The Commission 
shall publish them in the 
Official Journal of the European 
Communities to enable all 
interested parties to make their 
commenta. 
The Commission may of its own 
initiative raise an objection to 
such decisions, within a period 
of two months, if it identifies 
a manifest error of judgement or 
in case of major violation of 
procedures. In this case it 
shall return the matter to the 
Jury for reconsideration. 
Furthermore, any person for whom the decision of the 
jury constitutes a grievance may within a period of 30 
days from publication of the decision in the Official 
Journal notify the Commission of a request to revise the 
decision on grounds of manifest error or major 
violation of procedures. The Commission shall 
examine this request in the framework of the appeaJ 
procedure laid down in the second subparagraph. The 
Commission shall return the case to the jury for 
reconsideration if it considers that the request should be 
accepted and shall inform the applicant accordingly. If 
the request cannot be accepted the Commission shall 
notify the applicant of the decision to reject the 
request. 
The decision of the jury shall be considered approved by 
the Commission if the latter has not made any objection 
within the two-month period. 
Article 14 
The European Environment Agency 
1. The Agency shall undertake, in consultation with 
ippropn.ue specialized scientific and technical bodies, 
pu-p.uatory work necessary for the establishment of the 
specific criteria as laid down in Article 7 (2). 
2. The Agency, in cooperation with the competent 
bodies, shall provide suggestions on the format and scope of 
the information to be provided to the competent body by an 
applicant as set out in Article 12(1) and on the procedures to 
lie followed by competent bodies when evaluating and 
transmitting the request for an Eco-label. 
The Aqe_nçy.._.sha_l_l_ assist_...the Jury ILe_le_.ted 
in carry_ing_out _i13 tasks . 
ORIGINAL TEXT AMENDED TEXT 
Article IS 
Terms of use 
1. The competent body shall issue contracts for the terms 
of use of the label. 
2. The terms and conditions of the use for the label shall 
include the fee to be paid by the applicant for the use of the 
label. This fee should be set at a level to cover all the 
reasonable costs incurred by the.competent body and the 
jury. 
These terms of use shall also include provisions for 
withdrawing the authorization to use the'label. 
3. The duration of the authorization for the use of the 
label shall not exceed the period of validity of the criteria for 
the product group. 
CHAPTER IV 
OTHER PROVISIONS 2. The terms and conditions of the use for the label shall 
include the fee to be paid by the applicant for the use of the 
label. This fee should be set at a level to cover all the 
reasonable costs incurred by the competent body . 
These terms of use shall also include provisions for 
withdrawing the authorization to use the label. 
Article 16 
Confidentiality 
1. If the manufacturer or importer considers the 
information obtained in pursuance of Article 12 to be 
confidential, commercially sensitive and, if released, likely to 
cause his business industrial or commercial harm, the 
applicant for a label may indicate what specific details of the 
inlormatiun should be kept secret from all other persons 
other than the competent bodies, the members of the jury and 
the Commission. Full justification must be given in such 
cases. 
2. The competent body receiving the application shall 
decide which information should be kept secret and inform 
the applicant for the label. 
3. In all cases, the following information shall be made 
available: 
— the name of the product, 
— the manufacturer or importer of the product, 
— the reasons and relevant information for awarding or 
refusing the label. 1. If the manufacturer or importer considers the 
information obtained in pursuance of Article 12 to be 
confidential, commercially sensitive and, if released, likely to 
cause his business; industrial or commercial harm, the 
applicant for a label may indicate what specific details of the 
information should be kept secret from all other persons 
other than the competent bodies and 
the Commission. Full justification must be given in such 
cases. 
4. Competent bodies and the jury members shall be 
required not to disclose information to which they have 
gained access through the proceedings. 
4S> 
ORIGINAL TEXT AMENDED TEXT 
Article 17 
Publication 
1. The Commission shall publish the 
product groups and the associated 
specific criteria in the Official 
Journal of the European 
Communities. The Commission shall publish the 
product groups and the associated 
specific environmental criteria, 
and their period of validity in 
the Official Journal of the 
European Communities. 
2. The Commission shall also ensure that the list of 
produas for which an Eco-label has been granted and the 
name of the relevant manufacturers or importers is 
published. 
3. The Commission shall also publish the names of the 
competent bodies in the Official Journal. 
Article 18 
Information 
Member States shall ensure that consumers and undertakings 
are informed about the following: 
(a) the objeaives of the Community Award Scheme for an 
Eco-label; 
(b) product groups which have been selected; 
(c) the general and specific criteria for product groups; 
(d) the products which have been awarded an Eco-label; 
(e) the procedures for applying for a label; 
(f) the competent body in the Member State. 
Article 19 
Advertising 
1. References to the Eco-label in advertising shall only be 
made once a label has been granted and only in relation to the 
specific product for which the label has been granted. 
^ ^j 
ORIGINAL TEXT AMENDED TEXT 
2. Any advertising or labelling which 
might lead to confusion with the 
ECO-label should be prohibited. Any advertising or labelling 
which might lead to confusion in 
substance or form with the ECO-
label should be prohibited. 
Where appropriate, the Member 
States shall apply their 
legislation on trading practices, 
misleading advertising or 
counterfeit goods. 
Article 20 
Implementation 
Member States shall inform the Commission on measures 
they have taken to ensure compliance with this 
Regulation. 
Article 21 
Free circulation within the Communities 
The fact that an Eco-label has been awarded or refused to a 
produa shall not impede, prohibit or restria the marketing 
of this produa. 
Article 22 
Revision 
Revis ion 
Not later than 5 years after the 
entry into force of this Regulation 
the Commission shall review the 
scheme in the light of experience 
gained during its operation, and in 
particular Extens ion of the scope of 
application 
Not later than 5 years after the 
entry into force of this Regulation 
the Commission shall review the 
scheme in the light of experience 
gained during its operation, and 
shall report to the European 
Parliament and the Council on the 
application of this Regulation. 
Where appropriate it shall propose 
suitable amendments to this 
Regulation. 
whether it is appropriate that Deleted 
na tional systems should continue 
to exist alongside the Community 
system 
_the field of application of the Deleted 
scheme as laid down in Article 2. 
ORIGINAL TEXT 
The Commission shall, if necessary, propose modifications 
to this Regulation. 
In its proposals presented in accordance with Article 20 of 
Council Regulation 1210/90 (') and not later than five years 
after the entry into force of this Regulation, the Commission 
shall propose the transfer to the Agency of the task of 
determining the specific criteria referred to in Article 8. 
Article 23 
Entry into force 
This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 October 1991. 
It shall apply from 1 October 1992. 
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly 
applicable in all Member States. 
(') OJNoL120, 11. 5. 1990, p. 1. 
ANNEX/ 
Assessment matrix :7 
AMENDED TEXT 
1 
| Produa life cycle 
! Environmental fields 
Waste relevance 
1 
| Soil pollution and degradation 
! Water contamination 
i 
Air contamination 
Noise 
Consumption of energy 
1 Consumption of natural resources Production Distribution Utilization Disposal 
NB: For a simplified model the following criteria are suggested: 
0: almost none, neglible pollution; 1: moderate pollution; 2: considerable pollution. 
pc 
ORIGINAL TEXT AMENDED TEXT 
ANNEX II 
-k * • 
* * * 
ISSN 0254-1475 
COM(91) 544 final 
DOCUMENTS 
EN 10 
Catalogue number : CB-CO-91-599-EN-C 
ISBN 92-77-79090-3 
Office for Official Publications of the European Communities 
L-2985 Luxembourg