2006/692/EC: Commission Decision of 12 October 2006 amending, for the purposes of adapting to technical progress, the Annex to Directive 2002/95/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards exemptions for applications of hexavalent chromium (notified under document number C(2006) 4791)   (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2006-10-12
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: chromium, computer equipment, dangerous substance, derogation from EU law, electrical equipment, electronic equipment, marketing, telecommunications

L 283/50

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

14.10.2006

COMMISSION DECISION

of 12 October 2006

amending, for the purposes of adapting to technical progress, the Annex to Directive 2002/95/EC of
the European Parliament and of the Council as regards exemptions for applications of hexavalent
chromium

(notified under document number C(2006) 4791)

(Text with EEA relevance)

(2006/692/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty
Community,

establishing the European

the European
Having regard to Directive 2002/95/EC of
Parliament and of the Council of 27 January 2003 on the
restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in elec-
trical and electronic equipment (1), and in particular Article
5(1)(b) thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

Directive 2002/95/EC requires
evaluate
pursuant to Article 4(1) of that Directive.

hazardous

certain

the Commission to
prohibited

substances

the negative

to outweigh the
safety benefits

Certain materials and components containing hexavalent
chromium should be exempted from the prohibition,
since the use of
this hazardous substance in those
specific materials and components is still unavoidable,
or because
environmental, health or
safety impacts caused by substitution are
consumer
environmental, health or
likely
consumer
thereof. The exemption is
granted on the basis of the results of a review process
carried out by technical experts taking into account
available evidence from studies, stakeholders and other
scientific/technical sources. This review concluded that
the elimination or substitution of the substance is still
technically or scientifically impracticable until 1 July
2007. A similar exemption is provided in Directive
2000/53/EC on End of Life Vehicles.

(3)

Some exemptions
from the prohibition for certain
specific materials or components should be limited in

their scope, in order to achieve a gradual phase-out of
electronic
hazardous
equipment, given that the use of those substances in
such applications will become avoidable.

substances

electrical

and

in

(4)

Pursuant to Article 5(1)(c) of Directive 2002/95/EC each
exemption listed in the Annex must be subject to a
review at least every four years or four years after an
item is added to the list.

(5)

Directive 2002/95/EC should therefore be amended
accordingly.

(6)

Pursuant to Article 5(2) of Directive 2002/95/EC, the
Commission has consulted the relevant parties.

(7)

in this Decision are in
The measures provided for
accordance with the opinion of
the Committee esta-
blished by Article 18 of Directive 2006/12/EC of the
European Parliament and of the Council (2),

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

In the Annex to Directive 2002/95/EC the following point 28 is
added:

‘28. Hexavalent chromium in corrosion preventive coatings of
unpainted metal sheetings and fasteners used for corrosion
protection and Electromagnetic Interference Shielding in
category three of Directive
equipment
2002/96/EC (IT and telecommunications
equipment).
Exemption granted until 1 July 2007.’

falling under

(1) OJ L 37, 13.2.2003, p. 19. Directive as

last amended by
Commission Decision 2006/310/EC (OJ L 115, 28.4.2006, p. 38).

(2) OJ L 114, 27.4.2006, p. 9.

14.10.2006

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 283/51

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Article 2

Done at Brussels, 12 October 2006.

For the Commission

Stavros DIMAS
Member of the Commission