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 Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a common authorisation procedure for food additives, food enzymes and food flavourings amending the proposal of the Commission pursuant to Article 250 (2) of the EC Treaty
Date: 2008-10-16
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: approximation of laws, consumer protection, enzyme, flavouring, food additive, foodstuff, foodstuffs legislation, public health

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 16.10.2008 
COM(2008) 605 final 

2006/0143 (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 

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT  
AND OF THE COUNCIL 

establishing a common authorisation procedure for food additives, food enzymes and 
food flavourings  

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

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2006/0143 (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 

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT  
AND OF THE COUNCIL 

establishing a common authorisation procedure for food additives, food enzymes and 
food flavourings  

1. 

INTRODUCTION 

Article  251(2),  third  subparagraph,  point  (c)  of  the  EC  Treaty  provides  that  the 
Commission is to deliver an opinion on the amendments proposed by the European 
Parliament  at  second  reading.  The  Commission  sets  out  its  opinion  below  on  the 
amendments proposed by the Parliament.  

2. 

BACKGROUND 

Date of transmission of the proposal to the EP and the Council 
(document COM((2006)0423 final – 2006/0143(COD): 

28 July 2006 

Date  of  the  opinion  of  the  European  Economic  and  Social 
Committee: 

25 April 2007 

Date of the opinion of the European Parliament, first reading: 

10 July 2007 

Date of transmission of the amended proposal: 

24 October 2007 

Date of political agreement 

Date of adoption of the common position: 

17 December 2007 

10 March 2008 

Date of the opinion of the European Parliament (Second Reading) 

8 July 2008  

3. 

PURPOSE OF THE PROPOSAL 

As part of the efforts undertaken to improve Community legislation on the basis of 
the  “farm  to  fork”  concept,  in  the  White  Paper  on  Food  Safety,  the  Commission 
announced  its  intention  to  update  and  complete  existing  legislation  with  regard  to 
food additives and flavourings and to lay down specific provisions in respect of food 
enzymes.  

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This proposal aims to ensure the proper functioning of the internal market, while also 
ensuring a high level of protection of human health as regards food additives, food 
enzymes and food flavourings.  

In  order  to  do  this,  it  will  establish  a  common  authorisation  procedure  that  is 
centralised, effective and transparent and that is based on risk assessment carried out 
by  the  European  Food  Safety  Authority  (EFSA)  and  a  risk  management  system  in 
which the Commission takes action within the framework of a regulatory committee 
procedure  (comitology).  It  assigns  to  the  Commission,  on  the  basis  of  the  EFSA’s 
scientific  assessments,  the  task  of  creating,  maintaining  and  updating  a  general 
Community  list  for  each  category  of  substances  concerned.  The  inclusion  of  a 
substance  on  one  of  these  lists  means  that  its  use  is  authorised  in  general  for  all 
operators in the Community. 

4. 

OPINION  OF  THE  COMMISSION  ON  THE  AMENDMENTS  BY  THE  EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT 

The  EP  voted  in  second  reading  a  consolidated  text  which  contains  a  number  of 
amendments to the text of the Common Position. The text is the result of negotiations 
between  the  Council,  the  EP  and  the  Commission.  All  amendments  are  mainly  of 
technical nature and are in line with and strengthen the key principles of the initial 
proposal, namely the transparency of the procedure and the environmental aspects in 
the food legislation. The most important amendment concerns the introduction of a 
recital  which  clarifies  that,  in  the  future,  derogations  to  the  common  authorisation 
procedure  can  be  introduced  in  individual  sectoral  texts  to  allow  for  preferential 
authorisation  under  certain  conditions.  Another  amendment  increases  the  deadline 
for EFSA to perform the safety assessment of a substance from six to nine months. 

The Commission accepts all the amendments voted by the EP. The outcome of the 
second reading in the EP was very satisfactory. 

5. 

CONCLUSION 

Pursuant to Article 250(2) of the EC Treaty, the Commission amends its proposal as 
set out above. 

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