Proposal for a European Parliament and Council Directive on energy efficiency requirements for ballasts for fluorescent lighting
Date: 1999-06-16
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: electrical energy, energy industry, energy policy, energy saving, environmental protection

C 274 E/10

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

28.9.1999

Proposal for a European Parliament and Council Directive on Energy efficiency requirements for
ballasts for fluorescent lighting

(1999/C 274 E/03)

(Text with EEA relevance)

COM(1999) 296 final (cid:151) 1999/0127(COD)

(Submitted by the Commission on 17 June 1999)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE
EUROPEAN UNION,

a significant
ballasts;

improvement of

the energy efficiency of

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community and in particular Article 95 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

(6) Whereas the adoption of such measures falls within
Community competence; whereas the requirements of
this Directive are within the limits of its objectives, thus
conforming to the requirements of Article 5 of the Treaty;

Having regard to the opinion of
Committee,

the Economic and Social

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article
251 of the Treaty (1),

(1) Whereas it is important to promote measures aimed at

the proper functioning of the internal market;

energy-saving programmes

(2) Whereas in its Resolution of 15 January 1985 on the
in the
improvement of
Member States (2) the Council invited the Member States
to pursue and, where necessary, increase their efforts to
promote the more rational use of energy by the further
development of integrated energy-saving policies;

(3) Whereas fluorescent

lighting accounts for a significant
share of energy consumption in the Community and
thus of total energy consumption; whereas the various
models of ballasts for fluorescent lighting available on
the Community market have very different
levels of
consumption for a given type of
i.e. extremely
variable energy efficiency;

lamp,

(4) Whereas some Member States appear to be on the point
of adopting provisions relating to the efficiency of ballasts
for fluorescent lighting, which might create barriers to
trade in these products in the Community;

(5) Whereas it is appropriate to take as a base a high level of
protection in proposals for the approximation of
the
provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative
safety,
action in Member States
environmental protection and consumer protection;
whereas this Directive ensures a high level of protection
for both the environment and the consumer, in aiming at

concerning health,

two objectives being

(7) Whereas, moreover, Article 174 of the Treaty calls for the
protection and improvement of
the environment and
prudent and rational utilisation of natural
resources,
the
these
Community policy on the environment; whereas elec-
tricity generation and consumption account for 30% of
man-made carbon dioxides (CO2) emissions and some
35 % of primary energy consumption in the Community,
whereas these percentages are increasing;

those of

among

(8) Whereas, furthermore, Council Decision 89/364/EEC of 5
June 1989 on a Community action programme for
improving the efficiency of electricity use (3) has as its
twin objectives
to favour
appliances and equipment with high electrical efficiency
and to improve
and
equipment;

to encourage

efficiency of

consumers

appliances

the

(9) Whereas in its conclusions of 29 October 1990 the
Council sets an objective of stabilising carbon dioxide
(CO2) emissions in the Community at 1990 levels by
the year 2000; whereas the UNFCCC Protocol agreed in
Kyoto on 10 December 1997 calls for a greenhouse gases
emission reduction for the Community of 8 % by year
2012; whereas
this objective
stronger measures are required to limit and to reduce
CO2 emissions within the Community;

to achieve

in order

(10) Whereas

Decision

to promote
(the

91/565/EEC (4)
energy

a
in the
programme
Community
and Decision
96/737/EC (5) established a new multiannual programme
(the SAVE II programme) to continue and strengthen the
action of the original SAVE programme;

SAVE programme);

established

efficiency

(11) Whereas most energy-efficient ballasts are available at a
different cost and they can pay for their initial cost
through electricity savings within a few years; whereas

(1) Opinion of the European Parliament of 26 October 1995 (OJ C
308, 20.11.1995, p. 134), Council common position of 11 March
1996 (OJ C 120, 24.4.1996, p. 10) and Decision of the European
Parliament of 18 June 1996 (OJ C 198, 8.7.1996).

(2) OJ C 20, 22.1.1985, p. 1.

(3) OJ L 157, 9.6.1989, p. 32.
(4) OJ L 307, 8.11.1991, p. 34.
(5) OJ L 335 of 24.12.1996, p. 50.

28.9.1999

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 274 E/11

the added
this calculation does not
benefit of
the external costs of electricity generation
thereby avoided, such as emissions of carbon dioxide
(CO2) and other pollutants;

take into account

(12) Whereas this Directive, which is aimed at eliminating
technical barriers with regard to improving the energy
efficiency of ballasts for fluorescent lighting, must follow
the (cid:145)new approach(cid:146) established by the Council Resolution
of 7 May 1985 on a new approach to technical harmon-
isation and standards (1) which specifically lays down that
legislative harmonisation is limited to the adoption, by
means of directives, of the essential requirements with
which products put on the market must conform;

(13) Whereas Council Resolution of 19 June 1998 called for a
programme of complementary common and coordinated
measures, such as improved dynamic energy efficiency
standards;

(14) Whereas an effective enforcement system is necessary to
ensure that the Directive is implemented properly, guar-
antees fair conditions of competition for producers and
protects consumer rights;

(15) Whereas regard should be given to the Council Decision
93/465/EEC of 22 July 1993 concerning the modules for
assessment
the
the
procedures and the rules for the affixing and use of the
CE conformity marking (2), which are intended to be used
in the technical harmonisation directives;

various phases of

conformity

(16) Whereas in the interest of

international

inter-
national standards should be used wherever appropriate;
whereas the electricity consumption of a ballast is defined
by the European Committee for Standardisation Standard
EN 50294 of July 1998, which is based on international
standards;

trade,

(17) Whereas ballasts for fluorescent lighting complying with
the energy efficiency requirements of this Directive must
bear the (cid:145)CE(cid:146) marking and associated information, in order
to enable them to move freely;

(18) Whereas this Directive is confined to ballasts for fluo-

rescent lighting, supplied by mains electricity;

(19) Whereas it did not prove possible to achieve the same
objectives of the present proposal through a negotiated
agreement with the European Association of ballast
manufacturers: CELMA, due to the high level of imports
into the Community market,

(1) OJ C 136, 4.6.1985, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 220, 30.8.1993, p. 23.

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:

Article 1

This Directive shall apply to new electric mains-operated
ballasts for fluorescent lighting sources as defined in Annex I
and referred to hereafter as (cid:145)ballasts(cid:146).

However ballasts to be exported from the Community either as
luminaires shall be excluded.
individual parts or as parts of

Article 2

1. Member States shall take all necessary measures to ensure
that ballasts covered by this Directive can be placed on the
Community market and put into service only if the power
consumption of the ballast in question is less than or equal
to the maximum allowable power consumption value for its
category as calculated according to the procedures defined in
Annex I.

2.
The manufacturer of a ballast covered by this Directive,
its authorised representative established in the Community or
the person responsible
for placing the ballast on the
Community market shall be responsible for ensuring that
each ballast placed on the market
conforms with the
requirement referred to in paragraph 1.

Article 3

1. Member States may not prohibit, restrict or impede the
placing on the market or the putting into service in their
territory of ballasts which bear the (cid:145)CE(cid:146) marking attesting to
their conformity with all the provisions of this Directive.

2.
Unless they have evidence to the contrary, Member States
shall presume that ballasts bearing the (cid:145)CE(cid:146) marking required
under Article 5 comply with all the provisions of this Directive.

3.

(a) Where ballasts are subject to other Directives covering
other aspects which also provide for affixing of the (cid:145)CE(cid:146)
indicate that the ballasts in
marking, the latter shall
question are also presumed, unless evidence to the
contrary exists, to conform to the provisions of those
other Directives.

(b) However, where one or more of these Directives allows
the manufacturer, during a transitional period,
to
choose which rules to apply, the (cid:145)CE(cid:146) marking shall
indicate conformity solely with the provisions of
those Directives applied by the manufacturer. In this
case, the reference numbers of the Directives applied,
as published in the Official
the European
Communities, must be given in the documents, notices
or instructions accompanying the ballasts.

Journal of

C 274 E/12

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

28.9.1999

(c) When ballasts are exported from the Community either
as individual parts or as parts of luminaires this must
be clearly indicated by manufacturer,
its authorised
representative established in the Community or the
person responsible for placing the ballasts on the
in the documents, notices or
Community market
instructions accompanying the ballasts.

Article 8

1. Member States shall adopt and publish the laws, regu-
lations and administrative provisions necessary to comply
with this Directive within a year of its adoption. They shall
immediately inform the Commission thereof.

Article 4

The conformity assessment procedures and the obligation
relating to the (cid:145)CE(cid:146) marking of ballasts are laid down in
Annex II.

Article 5

1. When ballasts are placed on the market, they must bear
the (cid:145)CE(cid:146) marking, which shall consist of the initials (cid:145)CE(cid:146). The
form of the marking to be used is shown in Annex III. The (cid:145)CE(cid:146)
marking shall be affixed visibly, legibly and indelibly to ballasts
and, where appropriate, to the packaging.

The affixing on ballasts of any markings which are likely
2.
to mislead third parties as to the meaning and form of the (cid:145)CE(cid:146)
marking shall be prohibited. Any other marking may be affixed
to the ballasts, their packaging, the instruction sheet or other
documents, provided that
the (cid:145)CE(cid:146) marking remains clearly
visible and legible.

Article 6

1. Where a Member State establishes that the (cid:145)CE(cid:146) marking
has been affixed improperly, the manufacturer or his authorised
representative established within the Community shall be
obliged to bring the product into conformity and to end the
infringement in accordance with the conditions imposed by the
Member State. Where neither the manufacturer nor his auth-
orised representative is established within the Community, the
person who places the ballasts on the Community market shall
undertake these obligations.

2. Where the product continues not to be in conformity, the
Member State shall take all necessary measures pursuant to
Article 7 to restrict or prohibit the placing on the market of
the product in question or to ensure that it is withdrawn from
the market.

Article 7

Any decision taken pursuant

to this Directive which
1.
contains a restriction on the placing on the market of
ballasts shall state the precise grounds on which it is based.
The party concerned shall be notified without delay of the
decision and shall be informed at the same time of the possi-
bilities and time limits regarding the legal remedies available to
it under the laws in force in the Member State in question.

Member States shall apply these provisions on the expiration of
a period of one year counting from the date of adoption of this
Directive.

these provisions,

When Member States adopt
these shall
contain a reference to this Directive or shall be accompanied
by such reference at the time of their official publication. The
procedure for such reference shall be adopted by Member
States.

2. Member States shall communicate to the Commission the
texts of the provisions of national law which they adopt in the
field covered by this Directive.

During a one-year period following adoption of

this
3.
Directive, Member States shall permit
the placing on the
market of ballasts which comply with the same conditions as
those which were applied on their territory at the date of
adoption of this Directive.

Article 9

1.
After four years from the adoption of this Directive the
second set of maximum allowable power consumption values
as defined in Annex IA will become applicable.

this Directive,

the Commission shall

Before the expiry of a period of four years from the
2.
adoption of
the Commission shall make an
assessment of the results obtained as compared with those
expected. With a view to advancing to a third stage in
then
energy efficiency improvement,
consider, in consultation with the interested parties, the need
to lay down a third set of maximum allowed power
consumption levels for significantly improving the energy effi-
ciency of ballasts. In this case, the power consumption and the
date of its entry into force will be based on levels which can be
economically and technically justified in the light of
the
circumstances at the time. Any other measure judged appro-
priate to improve energy efficiency of ballast shall also be
considered.

Article 10

This Directive shall enter into force on the 20th day following
its publication in the Official
the European
Communities.

Journal

of

State

The Member

2.
inform the
shall
Commission of any such measure, indicating the reasons for
its decision. The Commission shall make this information
known to the other Member States.

immediately

Article 11

This Directive is addressed to the Member States.

28.9.1999

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 274 E/13

ANNEX I

Methods for calculating the maximum allowable power consumption for a given ballast type and procedures
for the verification of conformity therewith

The energy efficiency of the lamp-ballast circuit is determined by the total input power into the circuit. This is a
function of the lamp power and of the type of ballast; for this reason, the maximum allowed power consumption of a
given ballast is defined as the maximum ballast-lamp circuit power, with different levels for each lamp power and ballast
type.

To calculate the maximum allowable consumption of a given ballast,
appropriate category from the following list:

it must therefore first be allocated to the

Category

Description

1

2

3

4

5

6

Ballast for linear lamp type

Ballast for compact 2 tubes lamp type

Ballast for compact 4 tubes flat lamp type

Ballast for compact 4 tubes lamp type

Ballast for compact 6 tubes lamp type

Ballast for compact 2 D lamp type

The maximum allowable power consumption expressed in W is defined by the following table:

Ballast Category

Maximum Allowable Power Consumption

Lamp Power

1

2

3

4

5

6

50 Hz

15 W

18 W

30 W

36 W

38 W

58 W

70 W

18 W

24 W

36 W

18 W

24 W

36 W

10 W

13 W

18 W

26 W

18 W

26 W

10 W

16 W

21 W

28 W

38 W

HF

13,5 W

16 W

24 W

32 W

32 W

50 W

60 W

16 W

22 W

32 W

16 W

22 W

32 W

9,5 W

12,5 W

16,5 W

24 W

16 W

24 W

9 W

14 W

19 W

25 W

34 W

£ 25 W

£ 28 W

£ 40 W

£ 45 W

£ 47 W

£ 70 W

£ 83 W

£ 28 W

£ 34 W

£ 45 W

£ 28 W

£ 34 W

£ 45 W

£ 18 W

£ 21 W

£ 28 W

£ 36 W

£ 28 W

£ 36 W

£ 18 W

£ 25 W

£ 31 W

£ 38 W

£ 47 W

Definitions

The terms used in this Annex correspond to the definitions in European Standard EN 50294 of July 1998 laid down by
the European Committee for Standardisation.

C 274 E/14

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

28.9.1999

The second set of maximum allowable power consumption which becomes applicable four years from the adoption

ANNEX I A

Ballast Category

Maximum Allowable Power Consumption

Lamp Power

1

2

3

4

5

6

50 Hz

15 W

18 W

30 W

36 W

38 W

58 W

70 W

18 W

24 W

36 W

18 W

24 W

36 W

10 W

13 W

18 W

26 W

18 W

26 W

10 W

16 W

21 W

28 W

38 W

HF

13,5 W

16 W

24 W

32 W

32 W

50 W

60 W

16 W

22 W

32 W

16 W

22 W

32 W

9,5 W

12,5 W

16,5 W

24 W

16 W

24 W

9 W

14 W

19 W

25 W

34 W

55 W

£ 23 W

£ 26 W

£ 38 W

£ 43 W

£ 45 W

£ 67 W

£ 80 W

£ 26 W

£ 32 W

£ 43 W

£ 26 W

£ 32 W

£ 43 W

£ 16 W

£ 19 W

£ 26 W

£ 34 W

£ 26 W

£ 34 W

£ 16 W

£ 23 W

£ 29 W

£ 36 W

£ 45 W

28.9.1999

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 274 E/15

ANNEX II

Conformity Assessment Procedures (Module A)

1. This module describes the procedure whereby the manufacturer or his authorised representative established within
the Community, who carries out the obligations laid down in point 2, ensures and declares that the ballast satisfies
the relevant requirements of this Directive. The manufacturer shall affix the (cid:145)CE(cid:146) marking to each ballast which he
manufactures and draw up a written declaration of conformity.

2. The manufacturer must establish the technical documentation described in paragraph 3 and he or his authorised
representative established within the Community shall keep it at the disposal of the relevant national authorities for
inspection purposes, for a period of not less than three years from the date on which the last ballast has been
manufactured.

Where neither the manufacturer nor his authorised representative is established within the Community, the obli-
gation to keep the technical documentation available is the responsibility of the person who places the ballast on the
Community market.

3. Technical documentation must enable the conformity of the ballast with the requirements of this Directive to be
assessed. It must, as far as is relevant for such assessment, cover the design, manufacture and operation of the ballast
and shall comprise:

i) the name and the address of the manufacturer;

ii) a general description of the model sufficient for unambiguous identification;

iii) information, including drawings as relevant, on the main design features of the model and in particular on items

which appreciably affect its electricity consumption;

iv) the operating instructions, if any;

v) the results of power consumption measurements carried out as required by point 5;

vi) details of the conformity of these measurements as compared to the energy consumption requirements set out in

Annex I.

4. Technical documentation established for other Community legislation may be used in so far as it meets the

requirements of this Annex.

5. Manufacturers of ballast are responsible for establishing the power consumption of each ballast covered by this
Directive according to the procedures specified in European Standard EN 50294, as well as the appliance’s conformity
with the requirements of Article 2.

6. The manufacturer or his authorised representative must keep a copy of the declaration of conformity with the

technical documentation.

7. The manufacturer must take all measures necessary in order that the manufacturing process ensures that the
manufactured ballasts comply with the technical documentation referred to in point 2 and with the relevant
requirements of the Directive.

ANNEX III

(cid:145)CE(cid:146) Conformity Marking

The conformity marking shall consist of the initials (cid:145)CE(cid:146) taking the following form:

If the (cid:145)CE(cid:146) marking is reduced or enlarged the proportion given in the above graduated drawing must be respected.

The various components of the (cid:145)CE(cid:146) marking must have substantially the same vertical dimension, which may not be less
than 5 mm.