REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS On the review and update of the first European Community Implementation Plan in accordance with Article 8 (4) of Regulation No 850/2004 on persistent organic pollutants
Date: 2014-06-03
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU programme, air quality, organic pollution, pollutant













EUR-Lex - 52014DC0306 - EN











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52014DC0306

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS On the review and update of the first European Community Implementation Plan in accordance with Article 8 (4) of Regulation No 850/2004 on persistent organic pollutants /* COM/2014/0306 final */









REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE
AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS
On the review and update of the first
European Community Implementation Plan in accordance with Article 8 (4) of
Regulation No 850/2004 on persistent organic pollutants

 Introduction

Regulation (EC) 850/2004[1] on
persistent organic pollutants (the POPs Regulation) was adopted in April 2004,
in order to implement the Stockholm Convention[2] (the
Convention) and the POPs Protocol under the Convention on Long-Range
Transboundary Air Pollution[3]
(the UNECE Protocol on POPs) within the European Union.
Pursuant to Article 8 (4) of the POPs
Regulation, the first European Community Implementation Plan (CIP) was
developed in 2007[4].
It identified existing measures at EU level related to POPs, assessed their
efficiency and sufficiency in meeting the obligations of the Convention,
identified needs for further Union level measures and established a plan for
implementing further measures.
Further to Article 8 (4) of the POPs
Regulation, a review and update of the CIP has now been considered appropriate
in light of a number of changes in the regulatory landscape:

  The
      inclusion of a number of new POPs into the Stockholm Convention and the
      UNECE Protocol on POPs[5];
  the
      technical and legislative progress made in the area, as well as
  the
      findings of the Commission Report COM (2010) 514 on the application of
      the POPs Regulation

The reviewed and updated CIP will be
referred to as the Union Implementation Plan (UIP) on POPs and a Commission
Staff Working Document[6]
of this UIP is attached as an annex to this Report.

 Summary of the Accompanying Staff
     Working Document

The Preface of the Staff Working
Document (SWD) provides an overview of the international legislative framework
in which the POPs Regulation operates, including a summary of the UNECE
Protocol on POPs and the Stockholm Convention.
Part 1 of the SWD presents a status quo
of the EU's execution of its obligations as a Party to the above-mentioned
international frameworks. It describes the relevant EU legislation put in place
(including the POPs Regulation, REACH[7],
and the CLP Regulation[8])
as well as the financial instruments that support implementation. In an effort
to provide as detailed a picture as possible, Part 1 proceeds to give an
overall assessment of POPs, regarding their production, their use, their
placing on the market as well as with regard to existing stockpiles and the
contamination of the waste stream.
In Part 2 of the SWD, there is an
in-depth analysis of each individual obligation of the Stockholm Convention
affecting the EU's treatment of POPs. Subsequent to this analysis, the
Commission identifies 26 technical measures to improve implementation of the
EU's obligations under Stockholm.
[1] OJ L 229, 29.6.2004, p. 5
[2] The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, 22nd
May, 2001
[3] UNECE
(United Nations Economic Commission for Europe) Protocol to the 1979 Convention
on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution on Persistent Organic Pollutants
[4] SEC (2007) 341
[5] Ibid.
3
[6] SWD(2014) 172
[7] Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 concerning the Registration,
Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH)
[8] Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 concerning the Classification,
Labelling and Packaging of chemical substances and mixtures.