REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the exercise of the delegation conferred on the Commission pursuant to Regulation (EU) No 649/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2012 concerning the export and import of hazardous chemicals
Date: 2018-08-17
Institutions: Directorate-General for Environment, European Commission
Subjects: European Commission, chemical product, dangerous substance, delegated legislation, environmental protection, export (EU), import (EU), powers of the institutions (EU), public health, transfer of competence

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  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 17.8.2018 COM(2018) 596 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the exercise of the delegation conferred on the Commission pursuant to Regulation (EU) No 649/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2012 concerning the export and import of hazardous chemicals   
 
 
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL 

on the exercise of the delegation conferred on the Commission pursuant to Regulation 
(EU) No 649/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2012 
concerning the export and import of hazardous chemicals 

1. INTRODUCTION AND LEGAL BASIS 

Regulation (EU) No 649/20121 (hereinafter, “the PIC Regulation”) implements the Rotterdam 
Convention  on  the  Prior  Informed  Consent  Procedure  for  certain  hazardous  chemicals  and 
pesticides in international trade ("Rotterdam Convention"), signed on 11 September 1998 and 
approved,  on  behalf  of  the  European  Community,  by  Council  Decision  2003/106/EC2.  The 
requirements  and  procedures  for  export  and  import  of  certain  hazardous  chemicals,  in 
particular those that are subject to the prior informed consent procedure under the Rotterdam 
Convention, are laid down in the PIC Regulation.  

Article 23(4) of the PIC Regulation empowers the Commission to adopt delegated acts subject 
to the conditions laid down in Article 26 in order to: 

- include a chemical in Part 1 or 2 of Annex I pursuant to paragraph 2 of Article 23 following 
final  regulatory  action  at  Union  level,  and  other  amendments  of  Annex  I,  including 
modifications to existing entries [Article 23(4)(a)], 

-  include  a  chemical  that  is  subject  to  Regulation  (EC)  No  850/2004  of  the  European 
Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on persistent organic pollutants3 in Part 1 of 
Annex V [Article 23(4)(b)], 

-  include  a  chemical  already  subject  to  an  export  ban  at  Union  level  in  Part  2  of  Annex  V 
[Article 23(4)(c)], 

- modify existing entries in Annex V [Article 23(4)(d)], 

- amend Annexes II, III, IV and VI [Article 23(4)(e)].  

This  report  is  to  meet  the  obligation  set  for  the  Commission  by  Article  26(2)  of  the  PIC 
Regulation. Article 26(2) requires the Commission to present to the European Parliament and 
to the Council a report on the exercise of the delegation conferred on the Commission by the 
PIC Regulation. The report shall be drawn up not later than nine months before the end of the 
five-year period of the delegation, running from 1 March 2014. The delegation of power shall 
be tacitly extended for periods of an identical duration, unless the European Parliament or the 
Council opposes such extension not later than three months before the end of each period. 

1 Regulation (EU) No 649/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2012 concerning the 
export and import of hazardous chemicals (OJ L 201, 27.7.2012, p. 60). 
2 Council Decision 2003/106/EC of 19 December 2002 concerning the approval, on behalf of the European 
Community, of the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for certain hazardous 
chemicals and pesticides in international trade (OJ L 63, 6.3.2003, p. 27). 
3 Regulation (EC) No 850/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on persistent 
organic pollutants and amending Directive 79/117/EEC (OJ L 158, 30.4.2004, p. 7). 

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2. EXERCISE OF THE DELEGATION 

During the period concerned by this report, the Commission adopted three delegated acts in 
order  to  amend  certain  non-essential  elements  of  the  PIC  Regulation.  Those  delegated  acts 
were adopted on the basis of Article 23(4)(a) of the PIC Regulation specifying: “In order to 
adapt  this  Regulation  to  technical  progress,  the  Commission  shall  be  empowered  to  adopt 
delegated acts in accordance with Article 26 concerning the inclusion of a chemical in Part 1 
or  2  of  Annex  I  pursuant  to  paragraph  2  of  Article  23  following  final  regulatory  action  at 
Union  level,  and  other  amendments  of  Annex  I,  including  modifications  to  existing  entries” 
and on the basis of Article 23(4)(b) specifying: “In order to adapt this Regulation to technical 
progress,  the  Commission  shall  be  empowered  to  adopt  delegated  acts  in  accordance  with 
Article  26  concerning  the  inclusion  of  a  chemical  that  is  subject  to  Regulation  (EC)  No 
850/2004  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  29  April  2004  on  persistent 
organic pollutants in Part 1 of Annex V”. 

The following acts were adopted: 

2.1. Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1078/20144 

This  legal  act  was  adopted  on  the  basis  of  Article  23(4)(a)  of  the  PIC  Regulation.  The 
approach  followed  in  the  delegated  act  to  determine  which  chemicals  should  be  listed  in 
Annex I and in which part they should be listed was subject to discussions and consultations 
within  an  expert  group  consisting  of  representatives  of  Member  States’  designated  national 
authorities for the PIC Regulation, of the European Chemicals Agency, of industry and of the 
civil society (hereinafter, “PIC DNA Expert Group”) in the meetings of 11 October 2013 and 
of  7 April 2014.  The  PIC  DNA  Expert  Group  was  consulted  on  the  draft  Commission 
Delegated  Regulation,  which  was  made  available  in  advance  of  the  meetings.  The 
Commission  adopted  the  delegated  act  on  7  August  2014  and  notified  it  to  the  European 
Parliament and the Council. Neither institution objected to the delegated act within the period 
of  two  months  provided  for  in  Article  26(5)  of  the  PIC  Regulation.  Commission  Delegated 
Regulation  (EU)  No  178/2014  was  published  on  15  October  2014  and  applies  from  1 
December 2014.  

2.2. Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/22295 

This  legal  act  was  adopted  on  the  basis  of  Article  23(4)(a)  of  the  PIC  Regulation.  The 
approach  followed  in  the  delegated  act  to  determine  which  chemicals  should  be  listed  in 
Annex I and in which part they should be listed was subject to discussions and consultations 
within the PIC DNA Expert Group in the meetings of 1 October 2014 and of 21 April 2015. 
The PIC DNA Expert Group was consulted on the draft Commission Delegated Regulation, 
which  was  made  available  in  advance  of  the  meetings.  The  Commission  adopted  the 
delegated  act  on  29  September  2015  and  notified  it  to  the  European  Parliament  and  the 
Council.  Neither  institution  objected  to  the  delegated  act  within  the  period  of  two  months 
provided for in Article 26(5) of the PIC Regulation. Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 
2015/2229 was published on 3 December 2015 and applies from 1 February 2016.   

4  Commission  Delegated  Regulation  (EU)  No  1078/2014  of  7  August  2014  amending  Annex  I  to  Regulation 
(EU) No 649/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the export and import of hazardous 
chemicals (OJ L 297, 15.10.2014, p. 1). 
5  Commission  Delegated  Regulation  (EU)  2015/2229  of  29  September  2015  amending  Annex  I  to  Regulation 
(EU) No 649/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the export and import of hazardous 
chemicals (OJ L 317, 3.12.2015, p. 13). 

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2.3 Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2018/1726 

This legal act was adopted on the basis of Article 23(4)(a) of the PIC Regulation and on the 
basis  of  Article  23(4)(b).  The  approach  followed  in  the  delegated  act  to  determine  which 
chemicals should be listed in Annex I and in which part they should be listed was subject to 
discussions  and  consultations  within  the  PIC  DNA  Expert  Group  in  the  meeting  of 
26 April 2016. That meeting of the expert group also discussed the listing of certain chemicals 
in Part 1 of Annex V. The PIC DNA Expert Group was consulted on the draft Commission 
Delegated Regulation, which was made available in advance of the meeting. In addition, the 
PIC  DNA  Expert  Group  was  consulted  in  writing  after  that  meeting.  The  Commission 
adopted the delegated act on 28 November 2017 and notified it to  the European Parliament 
and  the  Council.  Neither  institution  objected  to  the  delegated  act  within  the  period  of  two 
months  provided  for  in  Article  26(5)  of  the  PIC  Regulation.  Commission  Delegated 
Regulation (EU) 2018/172 was published on 6 February 2018 and applies from 1 April 2018. 

2.4 Delegated powers not used during the reporting period 

The  delegated  powers  of  the  PIC  Regulation  to  adopt  delegated  acts  in  accordance  with 
Articles 23(4)(c), 23(4)(d) and 23(4)(e) were not exercised during the reporting period since 
there  were  no  changes  in  Union  law  or  under  the  Convention  requiring  this.  Since  those 
changes  can  occur  at  any  time,  it  is  important  that  the  Commission  is  empowered  to  adopt 
delegated acts that adapt the PIC Regulation to technical progress in line with those changes. 
In this context it should be noted that a further delegated act is currently being prepared that 
uses also Articles 23(4)(c) and 23(4)(d) as legal basis.  

3. CONCLUSION 

To  date  the  Commission  has  exercised  the  delegated  powers  provided  for  by  the  PIC 
Regulation  on  three  occasions  and  under  the  two  legal  bases  referred  to  above.  The 
Commission  is  of  the  view  that  the  delegated  powers  conferred  by  Article  23(4)  should  be 
tacitly extended, including those that were not yet exercised since the need to adapt the PIC 
Regulation to technical progress in accordance with  Articles 23(4)(c), 23(4)(d) and 23(4)(e) 
can occur at any time. The implementation of the PIC Regulation is advancing and technical 
and  scientific  progress  takes  place.  Developments  in  Union  law  and  under  the  Convention 
need to be reflected and require adaptations of the Annexes to the PIC Regulation. Therefore 
the Commission will be required to adopt further delegated acts in the future in order to keep 
the legal framework up to date. 

The  Commission  complies  with  the  reporting  requirement  under  Article  26(2)  of  the  PIC 
Regulation and invites the European Parliament and the Council to take note of this report.  

6  Commission  Delegated  Regulation  (EU)  2018/172  of  28  November  2017  amending  Annexes  I  and  V  to 
Regulation (EU) No 649/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the export and import 
of hazardous chemicals (OJ L 32, 6.2.2018, p. 6). 

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