Notification according to Article 95(4) and/or Article 95(5) of the EC Treaty — Request for authorisation to introduce national provisions deviating from a Community harmonisation measure (Notification No 2002-NOTIF95.4-5-NL-2) (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2002-08-08
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Netherlands, chemical product, dangerous substance, derogation from EU law, marketing, wood product

C 188/2

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

8.8.2002

Notification according to Article 95(4) and/or Article 95(5) of the EC Treaty

Request for authorisation to introduce national provisions deviating from a Community harmon-
isation measure

(Notification No 2002-NOTIF95.4-5-NL-2)

(2002/C 188/02)

(Text with EEA relevance)

its

1. On 3 May 2002 the Kingdom of the Netherlands notified
the Commission of
intention to adopt national
provisions regarding the marketing and use of creosote-
treated wood deviating from those laid down in Council
Directive 76/769/EEC (1),
by Directive
as
2001/90/EC (2). The Kingdom of the Netherlands invoked
Article 95(4) and/or Article 95(5) of the EC Treaty for the
request for authorisation.

amended

2. Article 95(4) provides that ‘If, after the adoption by the
Council or by the Commission of a harmonisation
measure, a Member State deems it necessary to maintain
national provisions on grounds of major needs referred to
in Article 30, or
the
environment or the working environment, it shall notify
the Commission of these provisions as well as the grounds
for maintaining them’.

relating to the protection of

3. Article 95(5) stipulates that ‘If, after the adoption by the
Council or by the Commission of a harmonisation
measure, a Member State deems it necessary to introduce
national provisions based on new scientific evidence
the environment or the
relating to the protection of
working environment on grounds of a problem specific
to the Member State arising after the adoption of the
harmonisation measure,
it shall notify the Commission
of the envisaged provisions as well as the grounds for
introducing them’.

the notification approve or

4. According to Article 95(6), ‘The Commission shall, within
six months of
the
national provisions involved after having verified whether
or not they are a means of arbitrary discrimination or a
disguised restriction to trade between Member States and
whether or not they shall constitute an obstacle to the
functioning of the internal market’.

reject

5. The draft national provisions are intended to prohibit the
placing on the market and use of creosote-treated wood
for applications involving contact with surface water and
groundwater. The ban is also intended to apply to old
treated wood intended for reuse.

6. It has to be recalled that pursuant Article 95(5) of the EC
the
Treaty, on 25 January 2001 the Kingdom of
identical
Netherlands notified national provisions
to
to Directive
those mentioned
94/60/EC (3).

relation

above

in

7. The introduction of those provisions was claimed to be
necessary in the light of the environmental risks posed by
creosote-treated wood in contact with surface water and
in the
groundwater and their particular
Netherlands as a result of their specific hydro-geographical
situation in connection with the extensive use of creosote-
treated wood.

significance

8. On 23 October 2001 Directive 2001/90/EC was adopted.
the Commission
the

By Decision of 23 January 2002 (4),
approved
Kingdom of the Netherlands pursuant to Article 95(6).

the national provisions notified

by

is

9. The Kingdom of the Netherlands claims that the intro-
duction above national provisions
still necessary
following the adoption of Directive 2001/90/EC as that
Directive does not address the environmental concerns
highlighted in the previous notification and recognised in
the abovementioned Commission Decision. The Kingdom
of
the national
provisions do not involve arbitrary discrimination, or a
disguised barrier to trade between Member States, nor do
they obstruct the operation of the internal market.

the Netherlands

further

claims

that

10. Possible observations submitted to the Commission later
than one month after the publication of this notice in the
Official Journal are in principle unlikely to be considered.

11. Further

information regarding the

request

from the

Kingdom of the Netherlands can be obtained from:

van Volkshuisvesting, Ruimtelijk Ordening

J. L. H. M. Stoop
Ministry of Housing, Planning and the Environment
(Ministerie
Milieubeheer)
Directorate for International Legal Affairs
Tel. (31-70) 339 38 09
E-mail: DJZ.Internationaal@minvrom.nl

en

Contact point in the European Commission:

Giovanni Indirli
European Commission
Directorate-General for Enterprise
Unit E3 ‘Chemicals’
AN88 4/39
B-1049 Brussels
Tel. (32-2) 295 12 65
Fax (32-2) 295 02 81
E-mail: giovanni.indirli@cec.eu.int

(1) OJ L 262, 27.9.1967, p. 201.
(2) OJ L 283, 27.10.2001, p. 41.
(3) OJ L 365, 31.12.1994, p. 1.

(4) OJ L 23, 25.1.2002, p. 37.