Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council repealing Council Directive 68/89/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States concerning the classification of wood in the rough
Date: 2006-09-29
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: approximation of laws, marketing, marketing standard, repeal, wood industry, wood product

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 29.9.2006 
COM(2006) 557 final 

2006/0178 (COD) 

Proposal for a 

DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

repealing Council Directive 68/89/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member 
States concerning the classification of wood in the rough 

(presented by the Commission) 

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

1. 

CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL 

On 16th March 2005 the Commission adopted a key Communication on Better Regulation for 
Growth and Jobs in the European Union (COM (2005) 97) which stressed the importance of 
simplification of national and European legislation. Better Regulation is crucial for improving 
the  competitiveness  of  European  enterprises  and  for  achieving  the  objectives  of  the  Lisbon 
Agenda.  By  improving  the  quality  of  legislation  and  thereby  cutting  unnecessary  costs  and 
obstacles  that  hinder  adaptation  and  innovation,  the  right  incentives  and  market  framework 
conditions  are  put  in  place  for  business  to  thrive,  so  that  it  can  create  the  wealth  our 
economies need. 

As  stated  in  the  Commission  Communication  on  Implementing  the  Community  Lisbon 
Programme:  a  strategy  for  the  simplification  of  the  regulatory  environment  (COM  (2005) 
535), the review of the “acquis” must become a continuous and systematic process, enabling 
the  legislator  to  revise  legislation  by  taking  all  legitimate  private  sector  and  public  interests 
into  account.  The  Communication  sets  out  a  rolling  programme  which  forms  part  of  a  new 
strategy  for  simplification.  This  programme  specifies  those  pieces  of  legislation  that  the 
Commission envisages reviewing and assessing, with the view to simplifying them. Included 
in  the  programme  is  Council  Directive  68/89/EEC,  adopted  on  23rd  January  1968,  on  the 
approximation of the laws of the Member States concerning the classification of wood in the 
rough.  

Having  reviewed  the  implementation  and  application  of  this  Directive,  the  Commission  has 
concluded to propose its repeal. 

2. 

RESULTS OF CONSULTATIONS WITH INTERESTED PARTIES AND ASSESSMENT  

2.1. 

Consultations 

The  starting  point  for  reviewing  whether  it  would  be  useful  to  keep  Council  Directive 
68/89/EEC  on  the  approximation  of  the  laws  of  the  Member  States  concerning  the 
classification of wood in the rough as part of the “acquis” or not, was the opinions expressed 
by Member States, by the forest sector and the forest-based industries over a number of years 
that the Directive had not been generally applied in their trade of timber. Stakeholders stated 
that  the  methods  used  for  the  measurement  of  wood  in  the  rough  were  other  than  those 
outlined in the Directive. Furthermore, there has not been any reported case of hindrances to 
trade  in  timber  due  to  the  fact  that  market  operators  could  not  agree  on  measuring  or 
classifying wood in the rough.  

As part of the Commission preparatory work and in accordance with the principles of Better 
Regulation,  stakeholders  were  consulted  through  the  Commission’s  Standing  Forestry 
Committee and through the Working Group on Competitiveness of the Commission Advisory 
Committee on Community Policy regarding Forestry and Forest-based Industries. 

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In addition a survey was sent to Member States and industry federations in order to establish 
whether the Directive was applied or not and to collect their views on a possible repeal of the 
Directive.  The  survey  was  launched  in  July  2005  and  answers  were  received  during  that 
autumn.  

2.2. 

Survey results 

The survey was answered by 19 Member States and 11 national industry federations.  

The main result of the survey is that, according to a majority of the Member States (2/3) and 
national industry federations (4/5) which answered the survey, the Directive is not applied in 
timber trade. The main reasons mentioned by Member States and industry for not applying the 
Directive were the following: 

–  the  methods  of  measurement  and  classification  provided  by  the  Directive  differ  from  the 

methods applied by enterprises in the sector; 

–  the classifications by dimensions and by quality provided by the Directive are not detailed 

enough and are too abstract; 

–  the classifications provided by the Directive do not take into account the intended uses of 

wood and are not adapted to market needs; 

–  European standards for quality and measurement are considered a better option. 

Only  two  Member  States  did  not  agree  with  a  proposal  to  repeal  the  Directive.  Of  the 
federations  representing  forest  owners  and  the  forest-based  industries,  all  except  one 
federation agreed with a proposal for repeal. However, whilst the members of this federation 
do not use the measurement methods set out in the Directive, the federation finds that it would 
not be “necessary” to have a repeal. 

Based  on  the  results  of  this  survey,  it  seems  clear  that  the  Directive  does  not  have  general 
application.  

Further  details  concerning  the  responses  to  the  survey  can  be  found  at  the  website: 
http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/forest_based/index_en.html 

2.3. 

Assessment 

The Directive 68/89/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States concerning 
the  classification  of  wood  in  the  rough  was  adopted  as  a  measure  to  develop  the  internal 
market for wood raw-material supply to the forest-based industries. However, its application 
has  been  limited,  since  it  is  not  compulsory  and,  generally,  operators  in  the  timber  markets 
have  agreed  and  applied  other  methods  of  measurement  and  classification.  The  internal 
market for wood raw material has expanded, as well as trade with third countries, seemingly 
without any hindrances due to different measurement or classification methods being applied. 
Other  measurement  and  classification  methods  are  used  and  the  trade  in  wood  in  the  rough 
would not be negatively affected by the repeal. Furthermore, European standards as regards 
the  measurement  and  classification  of  wood  have  been  established  which  can  be  used,  as 
appropriate, in wood market transactions and are considered a better solution. 

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The  Directive  68/89/EEC  is  not  necessary  for  internal  market  trade  or  trade  with  third 
countries  and  no  obstacle  to  trade  resulting  from  the  used  methods  of  measurement  or 
classification has been noted in the sector concerned. Therefore, it was decided not to replace 
the Directive by other legislative measures or to modify it.  

A  repeal  of  the  Directive  would  therefore  be  necessary  in  order  to  simplify  the  regulatory 
environment, by suppressing a non-essential instrument having a very limited application and 
which is not necessary for internal market reasons.  

3. 

LEGAL ELEMENTS OF THE PROPOSAL 

3.1. 

Subsidiarity and proportionality principles 

Following the results of the consultation and the assessment, it is evident that the objectives of 
Directive 68/89/EEC can be adequately achieved without Community legislation. 

3.2. 

Choice of instrument: the form of the act  

In general, when an act is repealed the principle of “parallel forms” applies, that is to say, the 
repeal of Directive 68/89/EEC would be effected by a repealing Directive. However, due to 
the particular circumstances of this case namely: 

•  the Directive in question was introduced almost forty years ago; 

•  the systems of classification and measurement introduced by the Directive are out of date, 

also it has been established that those systems are not used by industry; 

•  moreover,  the  provisions  of  the  Directive  relating  to  classification  and  measurement  are 

not compulsory. 

It is considered that a Decision which is addressed to the Member States and which is directly 
applicable  is  the  appropriate  form  of  act.  The  benefit  of  a  Decision  is  that  it  reinforces  the 
point that Member States must consider their domestic position to ensure coherence between 
the regimes at national and Community level following the repeal of Directive 68/89/EEC. 

3.3. 

Budgetary implications 

The proposal does not have any budgetary implications 

4. 

CONCLUSION 

The proposal to repeal Directive 68/89/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member 
States  concerning  the  classification  of  wood  in  the  rough  is  in  line  with  the  results  of  the 
consultations with Member States, forest owners and industry. 

It is however important that the repeal of Directive 68/89/EEC be followed by the repeal of 
the  corresponding  national  implementing  measures,  in  order  to  have  the  desired  practical 
effect. The mark “EEC classified” will no longer be available for use. 

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In addition, it needs to be ensured that the advantages of the repeal are not cancelled out by 
new  national  rules  or  new  technical  barriers.  Accordingly,  it  is  important  to  note  that  any 
national rules on the classification of wood in the rough are consistent with the principles of 
Article  28  of  the  Treaty  and  do  not  constitute  barriers  to  trade.  Thus,  for  example,  national 
rules  on  measurements  by  volume  or  weight,  or  on  classification  by  species  and  common 
name or by dimensions or quality, must not introduce barriers to the free movements of wood 
in  the  rough  within  the  internal  market.  Moreover,  any  national  measures  which  might  be 
considered to be technical regulations for the purpose of Directive 98/34/EC must be notified 
to the Commission in draft form.  

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2006/0178 (COD) 

Proposal for a 

DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

repealing Council Directive 68/89/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member 
States concerning the classification of wood in the rough 

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

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

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission1, 
Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee2, 
Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions3, 
Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty4, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

Community  policies  on  better  regulation  stress  the  importance  of  simplification  of 
national  and  Community  legislation  as  a  crucial  element  for  improving  the 
competitiveness of enterprises and for achieving the objectives of the Lisbon Agenda.  

The  methods  of  measurement  and  classification  provided  by  Council  Directive 
68/89/EEC  of  23rd  January  1968  on  the  approximation  of  the  laws  of  the  Member 
States concerning the classification of wood in the rough5 differ from the methods of 
measurement  and  classification  generally  and  currently  applied  in  transactions 
between enterprises in the forestry sector and the forest-based industries and are found 
not to be adapted to market needs. 

(3) 

The methods of measurement and classification provided by Directive 68/89/EEC are 
no longer necessary for the purposes of the internal market.  

(4) 

Directive 68/89/EEC should therefore be repealed.  

1 
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3 
4 
5 

OJ C , , p. . 
OJ C , , p. . 
OJ C , , p. . 
OJ C , , p. . 
OJ L32, 06/02/1968, pp.12-15. 

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(5) 

The  repeal  of  Directive  68/89/EEC  entails  that  after  31st  December  2008  the  mark 
“EEC  classified”  will  no  longer  be  available  for  use  in  marketing  and  that  the 
corresponding  national  implementing  measures  have  to  be  repealed  accordingly  by 
31st December 2008, 

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DECISION: 

Directive 68/89/EEC is repealed with effect from 31st December 2008. 

Article 1 

This Decision is addressed to the Member States. 

Article 2 

Article 3 

This Decision shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in 
the Official Journal of the European Union. 

Done at Brussels,  

For the European Parliament 
The President 

For the Council 
The President 

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