REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the exercise of the power to adopt delegated acts conferred to the Commission pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2017/852 on mercury
Date: 2021-08-20
Institutions: Directorate-General for Environment, European Commission
Subjects: European Commission, delegated legislation, export restriction, import restriction, international convention, mercury, metal pollution, powers of the institutions (EU), storage of waste, waste disposal

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 20.8.2021  COM(2021) 488 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the exercise of the power to adopt delegated acts conferred to the Commission pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2017/852 on mercury  
 
 
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 
THE COUNCIL on the exercise of the power to adopt delegated acts conferred on the 
Commission pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2017/852 on mercury  

1. INTRODUCTION  

Regulation (EU) 2017/852 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2017 on 
mercury,  and  repealing  Regulation  (EC)  No  1102/2008  (‘Mercury  Regulation’)1  establishes 
measures concerning the use, storage and trade in mercury, mercury compounds and mercury 
mixtures;  the  manufacture,  use  and  trade  in  mercury-added  products;  the  phasing-out  of 
manufacturing  processes  using  mercury  or  mercury  compounds;  and  the  management  of 
mercury waste. In doing so, the Mercury Regulation, together with other instruments of EU 
law, implements the Minamata Convention on Mercury.    

Articles  13(2)  and  20  of  the  Mercury  Regulation  empower  the  Commission  to  adopt 
delegated  acts  (i)  to  extend  the  period  of  time  during  which  Member  States  are  allowed  to 
temporary store in landfills mercury in liquid form pending final disposal and (ii) to amend 
Annexes I to IV to the Regulation in order to align them with relevant decisions adopted by 
the Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury (‘Minamata COP’).   

2. LEGAL BASIS  

This report is required under Article 21(2) of the Mercury Regulation.  

Pursuant to this provision, the power to adopt delegated acts is conferred on the Commission 
for  a  period  of  five  years  from  13  June  2017,  which  shall  be  automatically  extended  for 
periods of an identical duration, unless the European Parliament or the Council revokes it in 
accordance with Article 21(3) of the Mercury Regulation. In accordance with Article 21(2) of 
the  Mercury  Regulation,  the  Commission  is  required  to  prepare  a  report  in  respect  of  the 
delegation  of  power  at  the  latest  nine  months  before  the  end  of  the  five-year  period. 
Accordingly, the Commission is required to issue the first report on 13 September 2021 at the 
latest covering the 13 June 2017 - 12 June 2022 five-year period.  

Since  the  delegation  of  power  was  not  revoked  under  Article  21(3)  of  the  Mercury 
Regulation,  this  report  covers  the  first  five-year  period  in  accordance  with  Article  21(2)  of 
that Regulation.   

3. EXERCISE OF THE DELEGATION  

The  exercise  of  the  empowerment  was  deemed  necessary  for  complementing  or  adapting 
several provisions foreseen by the Mercury Regulation.   

Whilst Article 13(1) of the Mercury Regulation allows Members States to store temporarily 
mercury in liquid form in landfills (as a derogation to Article 5(3) of Directive 1999/31/EC 
on  landfills2)  pending  final  disposal  up  to  31  December  2022,  the  Commission  has  not 
received  to  date  any  information  regarding  the  need  to  extend  this  period.  Therefore,  the 

1 OJ L 137, 24.5.2017, p.1 
2 OJ L 182, 16.7.1999, p.1 

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Commission has not yet adopted any delegated act to prolong this period up to 31 December 
2025 in accordance with Article 13(2) of the Mercury Regulation. 

Annex  I  to  the  Mercury  Regulation  lists  mercury  compounds  and  mixtures  of  mercury 
prohibited from being exported and subject to specific rules on interim storage. Annex II to 
that Regulation lists mercury-added products  prohibited from  being  exported, imported  and 
manufactured together with associated phase-out dates, whilst Annex III lists manufacturing 
processes using mercury and/or mercury compounds that must be phased-out at a given date. 
Annex IV to the Mercury Regulation lays down requirements on the content of national plans 
on artisanal and small-scale gold mining and processing where mercury amalgamation is used 
to  extract  gold  from  ore.  Considering  that  the  Minamata  COP  has  not  yet  enacted  any 
decisions  that  would  require  the  alignment  of  above-mentioned  Annexes  I  to  IV  to  the 
Mercury Regulation, the Commission did not need to adopt delegated acts that would align 
those Annexes to concerned decisions from the Minamata COP.  

4. CONCLUSION  

The Commission has, over the past five years, not exercised the delegated powers conferred 
to it under Regulation (EU) 2017/852. It invites the European Parliament and the Council to 
take note of this report. 

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