Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 251 (2) of the EC Treaty concerning the common position of the Council on the adoption of a European Parliament and Council directive amending for the twentieth time Council Directive 76/769/EEC relating to restrictions on the marketing and use of certain dangerous substances and preparations (Short Chain Chlorinated Paraffins)

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 251 (2) of the EC Treaty concerning the

common position of the Council on the adoption of a European Parliament and Council Directive amending for the twentieth time Council Directive 76/769/EEC relating to restrictions on the marketing and use of certain dangerous substances and preparations (Short Chain Chlorinated Paraffins)

1. State of Procedure

- The above mentioned proposal [COM(2000) 260 final] was adopted by the Commission on 20th June 2000 and then transmitted to the Council and European Parliament.

- The European Parliament approved the proposal with amendments in the first reading on 1st February 2001.

- The Commission's amended proposal [COM(2001) 268 final] was adopted on 17th May 2001 and then transmitted to the Council.

- The Council reached a political agreement with a qualified majority on 31st May 2001 and adopted its Common Position on 27 June 2001.

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

2. Objective of the Directive

The Proposal, which is based on Article 95 of the Treaty, has the following two objectives:

- to preserve the Internal Market by introducing harmonised provisions with regard to the marketing and use of Short Chain Chlorinated Paraffins (SCCP);

- to provide a high level of protection of the environment by prohibiting the placing on the market of SCCP for use in metalworking and leather processing.

3. Comments on the Common Position

3.1. General

The Common position follows the general lines of the Commission's amended proposal. Certain changes motivated on technical grounds and a clarification were introduced.

3.2. Fate of the Amendments

Of the four amendments adopted by the Parliament one has been accepted and part of another amendment accepted in principle by the Commission.

The Commission recognises that other known uses of SCCP should be included in a future review of the provisions and that the European Parliament should be informed about the outcome of the review and has therefore accepted to introduce the necessary clarifications in its amended proposal. The Commission has also accepted that the proposed Directive should cover SCCP in the form of a substance or as a constituent of a preparation.

The Commission has not accepted amendments that would extend the scope of the proposed ban. The basis of the Commission's proposal is that particular risks have been identified in a comprehensive risk assessment carried out in the framework of Regulation (EEC) 793/93 on the evaluation and control of existing substances. To ban other uses or other related substances would not be justified by the current knowledge about risks.

3.3. The Common Position of the Council

The Common Position of the Council includes, in addition to the amendments accepted by the Commission, certain changes motivated on technical grounds. These changes, which would not alter the Commission's proposal, would further clarify the scope of the proposed Directive. A clarification of the scope of the future review was also included.

4. Conclusion

The Commission supports the Common Position because it follows the lines of its amended Proposal.

The Commission made a declaration at the adoption of the Council common position concerning point 2 of the Annex to the Directive: "The Commission stated that it would examine all the remaining known uses and counted on the Member States' support in this work."