COMMON POSITION (EC) No 62/98 adopted by the Council on 13 October 1998 with a view to adoptions European Parliament and Council Directive 98/ /EC of ... amending Council Directive 76/116/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to fertilisers, as regards the marketing in Austria, Finland and in Sweden of fertilisers containing cadmium
Date: 1998-10-13
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: Austria, Finland, Sweden, cadmium, chemical fertiliser, marketing

14.12.98

EN

Official  Journal  of  the  European  Communities

C 388/1

I

(Information)

COUNCIL

COMMON  POSITION  (EC)  No  62/98

adopted  by  the  Council  on  13  October  1998

with  a  view  to  adoptions  European  Parliament  and  Council  Directive  98/
/EC  of  . . .
amending  Council  Directive  76/116/EEC  on  the  approximation  of  the  laws  of  the  Member
States  relating  to  fertilisers,  as  regards  the  marketing  in  Austria,  Finland  and  in  Sweden  of
fertilisers  containing  cadmium

(98/C 388/01)

THE  EUROPEAN  PARLIAMENT  AND  THE  COUNCIL  OF
THE  EUROPEAN  UNION,

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  establishing  the  European
Community,  and  in  particular  Article  100a  thereof,

Having  regard  to  the  proposal  from  the  Commission (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee (2),

Acting  in  accordance  with  the  procedure  laid  down  in
Article  189b  of  the  Treaty (3),

Whereas Article 69 and point 4 of Annex VIII, Article 84
and  point  2  of  Annex  X  and  Article  112  and  point  4  of
Annex  XII  of  the  1994  Act  of  Accession,  concerning
respectively  Austria,  Finland  and  Sweden,  provide  that
Article  7  of  Directive  76/116/EEC (4),  in  so  far  as  it
concerns  the  cadmium  content  of  fertilisers,  shall  not
apply to those Member States before 1 January 1999 and
that  the  said  provisions  of  the  Act  of  Accession  will  be
reviewed  in  accordance  with  Community  procedures
before  31  December  1998;

(1) OJ  C  108,  7.4.1998,  p.  83.
(2) OJ  C  214,  10.7.1998,  p.  15.
(3) Opinion  of  the  European  Parliament  of  16  July  1998  (OJ
C 292, 21.9.1998), Council Common Position of 13 October
1998  and  Decision  of  the  European  Parliament  of  . . .  (not
yet  published  in  the  Official  Journal).

(4) OJ  L  24,  30.1.1976,  p.  21.  Directive  as  last  amended  by
Council  Directive  97/63/EC  (OJ  L  335,  6.12.1997,  p.  15).

Whereas  the  said  review  cannot  be  completed  by
31  December  1998  because  of  the  absence  in  many
Member  States  of  the  exposure  data  needed  to  evaluate
the  risks  to  health  and  the  environment  of  cadmium  in
fertilisers;  whereas  the  review  needs  to  be  continued  by
performing  further  work  after  this  date;

Whereas  the  further  work  should  evaluate  the  risks  in
Member  States  from  cadmium  in  fertilisers  in  particular
to  the  health  of  vulnerable  population  groups  and  to  the
environment; whereas this can only be accomplished after
several years;

Whereas  a  risk  assessment  of  cadmium  within  the
framework  of  Council  Regulation  (EEC)  No  793/93  of
23  March  1993  on  the  evaluation  and  control  of  the
risks of existing substances (5) has been launched; whereas
the  results  will  become  available  only  after  several
years;

Whereas,  apart  from  the  obligation  to  review  laid  down
in  the  1994  Act  of  Accession,  a  review  of  Community
legislation  in  force  can  always  be  decided  according  to
Community  procedures;  whereas  Community  legislation
may  provide  for  derogations  for  limited  periods  for
certain  Member  States  because  of  the  specificity  of  their
situations,

(5) OJ  L  84,  5.4.1993,  p.  1.

C 388/2

EN

Official  Journal  of  the  European  Communities

14.12.98

HAVE  ADOPTED  THIS  DIRECTIVE:

Article  2

Article  1

In  Article  7  of  Directive  76/116/EEC,  the  following  two
paragraphs  shall  be  added:

their 

‘However,  Austria,  Finland  and  Sweden  may  prohibit
the  marketing  on 
fertilisers
containing  cadmium  at  concentrations  in  excess  of
those  which  were  fixed  nationally  at  the  date  of
Accession.  The  derogation  shall  apply  for  the  period
from  1  January  1999  until  31  December  2001.

territory  of 

The Republic of Austria, the Republic of Finland and the
Kingdom  of  Sweden  shall  adopt  and  publish  the
provisions  necessary  to  comply  with  this  Directive  by
31  December  1998  at  the  latest.

When  the  Member  States  referred  to 
in  the  first
paragraph  adopt  these  measures,  they  shall  contain  a
reference  to  this  Directive  or  shall  be  accompanied  by
their  official
such  reference  on 
publication.  The  methods  of  making  such  reference  shall
be  laid  down  by  the  Member  States.

the  occasion  of 

Article  3

This Directive is addressed to the Republic of Austria, the
Republic  of  Finland  and  the  Kingdom  of  Sweden.

The  Commission  shall,  in  consultation  with  Member
States  and  interested  parties,  review  by  31  December
2001 
for  establishing  provisions  at
Community  level  concerning  the  cadmium  content  of
fertilisers’.

the  need 

Done  at  . . .

For  the  European  Parliament

For  the  Council

The  President

The  President

14.12.98

EN

Official  Journal  of  the  European  Communities

C 388/3

STATEMENT  OF  THE  COUNCIL’S  REASONS

I.

INTRODUCTION

1. On  12  February  1998  the  Commission  submitted  to  the  Council  a  proposal  for  a
Directive  based  on  Article  100a  of  the  EC  Treaty  amending  Directive  76/116/EEC  on
the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to fertilisers, as regards the
marketing  in  Austria,  Finland  and  in  Sweden  of  fertilisers  containing  cadmium.

2. The  Economic  and  Social  Committee  delivered  its  opinion  on  29  April  1998.

The  European  Parliament  delivered  its  opinion  on  16  July  1998.

3. The  Council  adopted  its  Common  Position  in  accordance  with  Article  189b  of  the

Treaty  on  1  October  1998.

II. OBJECTIVES

The  aim  of  the  Commission  proposal  is  to  extend  until  31  December  2001  as  regards
Austria, Finland and Sweden the possibility of restricting the marketing in their territory of
fertilisers  containing  cadmium.

Article  7  of  Directive  76/116/EEC  stipulates  that  Member  States  may  not  on  grounds  of
composition, identification, labelling or packaging prohibit, restrict or hinder the marketing
of  fertilisers  marked  ‘EC-fertiliser’  which  comply  with  the  provisions  of  the  Directive  and
the  Annexes  thereto.

Austria, Finland and Sweden, which for several years have restricted the marketing in their
territories  of  fertilisers  containing  cadmium,  negotiated  derogations  from  Article  7  when
they  acceded  to  the  European  Union.

Under the Accession Treaties, Article 7, in so far as it concerns cadmium, will not apply to
Austria, Finland and Sweden for four years from the date of accession, i.e. until 1 January
1999.  The  Accession  Treaties  further  provide  that  Article  7,  in  so  far  as  it  concerns
cadmium,  will  be  reviewed  within  this  period  according  to  EC  procedures.

Since  the  Commission  has  not  yet  sufficient  data  on  the  exposure  of  risk  groups  and  on
environmental  conditions  in  Member  States  to  judge  whether  or  not  cadmium  in  fertilisers
presents  an  unacceptable  risk,  further  work  is  needed.  That  means  the  review  will  not  be
completed  in  the  four  years  as  planned  but  will  probably  continue  until  31  December
2001.

As a result, for the three Member States in question the derogation from Article 7, in so far
as  it  concerns  cadmium,  should  be  supplemented  by  a  further  derogation  from  1  January
1999  until  the  new  date  estimated  for  completing  the  review  of  that  Article,  namely
31  December  2001.

III. ANALYSIS  OF  THE  COMMON  POSITION

The European Parliament proposed only one amendment, namely specifying in Article 1 of
the proposal that any change to the Directive needed as a result of the Commission’s review
should  be  adopted  before  31  December  2001.  The  Commission  did  not  accept  that
amendment.

The  Council  did  not  see  the  need  to  adopt  the  European  Parliament’s  amendment  and
approved  the  Commission  proposal  without  amendment.