Opinion of the Commission pursuant to Article 251 (2), third subparagraph, point (c) of the EC Treaty, on the European Parliament's amendments to the Council's common position regarding the  proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and the Council on General Product Safety amending the proposal of the Commission pursuant to Article 250 (2) of the EC Treaty
Date: 2001-06-28
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: consumer information, consumer protection, environmental risk prevention, product safety, public health

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 28.06.2001
COM(2001) 376 final

2000/0073 (COD)

OPINION OF THE COMMISSION

pursuant to Article 251 (2), third subparagraph, point (c) of the EC Treaty,
on the European Parliament's amendments
to the Council's common position regarding the
proposal for a

DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL

ON GENERAL PRODUCT SAFETY

AMENDING THE PROPOSAL OF THE COMMISSION
pursuant to Article 250 (2) of the EC Treaty

OPINION OF THE COMMISSION

pursuant to Article 251 (2), third subparagraph, point (c) of the EC Treaty,
on the European Parliament's amendments
to the Council's common position regarding the
proposal for a

DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL

ON GENERAL PRODUCT SAFETY

1.

PROCEDURE

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Adoption of the proposal by the Commission : 29 March 20001

Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee: 20 September 20002

Opinion of the European Parliament at first reading: 15 November 20003

Date of political agreement in Council: 30 November 2000 (unanimity)

Date of forwarding of the Commission's amended proposal: 2 February 20014

Formal adoption of the common position by the Council: 12 February 20015

Communication from the Commission concerning the common position:
14 February 20016

Adoption by Parliament of the Recommendation for a second reading:
16 May 20017

2.

OBJECTIVE OF THE DIRECTIVE

On 29 March 2000, the Commission adopted a proposal for a directive aimed at
revising and recasting Council Directive 92/59/EEC of 29 June 1992 on general
product safety8. The proposal introduces clearer and more effective rules to ensure
that only safe products are placed on the market.

1 COM (2000) 139 final/2 - 2000/0073 (COD) of 15 June 2000.
2 CES 2000/1008 of 20 September 2000.
3 A5/2000/0309.
4 COM (2001) 63 final of 2 February 2001.
5 Official Journal C 93, 23/03/2001, p. 0024.
6 SEC (2001) 244 of 14 February 2001.
7 A5-0133/2001.
8 Official Journal L 228, 11/08/1992, p. 0024 - 0032.

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3.

COMMISSION OPINION ON THE AMENDMENTS PROPOSED BY PARLIAMENT

The Parliament adopted on 16 May 2001 (second reading) seven amendments to the
Council common position.

The Commission accepted, in full or in part, five of those amendments under
condition of appropriate redrafting, but rejected the others.

In this opinion, the Commission adopts a position on Parliament's amendments in
accordance with Article 251(2)(c) of the EC Treaty.

3.1.

Amendments accepted by the Commission

Amendment 1 relates to Recital 1 of the Common position and concerns the
presentation by the Commission of proposals on the safety of services.

(12.02.2001)

the
When the common position was adopted in the Council
Commission stated its intention to identify the needs, possibilities and priorities for
Community action in respect of the safety of services and the responsibility of
service providers, and to make appropriate proposals in this field. The Commission
work programme 2001 also makes reference to this. Therefore this amendment can
be accepted, but in a reworded version (Recital 1, last sentence: "This recasting
leaves the safety of services outside the scope of this Directive, since the
for
Commission intends
Community action on the safety of services and liability of service providers, with a
view to presenting appropriate proposals.".

to identify the needs, possibilities and priorities

Amendments 4, 5 and 10 call for the setting up of an Advisory Committee (instead of
a Regulatory Committee, as foreseen in the common position)
for both the
establishment of standardisation mandates and the setting of the safety objectives for
such mandates. The Commission can accept these amendments.

Amendment 7 introduces in Article 8 a reference to the precautionary principle as a
guiding principle that the competent authorities of the Member States should comply
with, when they take the measures provided for in Article 8(1).

The amendment of the Parliament could be accepted, but in a reworded version
(Article 8(2): "When the competent authorities of the Member States take measures
such as those provided for in paragraph 1, in particular those referred to in (d) to (f),
taking account of the precautionary principle where appropriate, they shall act in
accordance with the Treaty, and in particular Articles 28 and 30 thereof, in such a
way as to implement the measures in a manner proportional to the seriousness of the
risk.".

Indeed,
the precautionary principle may be relevant when there is scientific
uncertainty. Nevertheless, a reference to the precautionary principle should be put
into the context of the purpose of the relevant provision, namely the respect of the
Treaty.

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3.2.

Amendments rejected by the Commission

Amendment 3 adds a new paragraph to Article 3 that aims at introducing a reference
to independent certification as means of proving compliance with the safety
requirements of the Directive.

In accordance with the provisions laid down by the Directive, external certification
should only facilitate the assessment of compliance, and not function as proof of
compliance.

Amendment 11 is formulated as an obligation to the Commission, to be included in
Art. 19 (a), to present proposals concerning the safety of services by a certain date.

Such an amendment cannot be accepted as it would affect the Commission’s right of
initiative.

4.

CONCLUSION

In accordance with Article 250 (2) of the Treaty, the Commission is altering its
proposal as indicated above.

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