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 Directive 2012/19/EU on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE)
Date: 2021-10-20
Institutions: Directorate-General for Environment, European Commission
Subjects: delegated legislation, electrical equipment, electronic equipment, electronic waste, pollution control measures, powers of the institutions (EU), storage of waste, transfer of competence, waste disposal, waste recycling

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 20.10.2021  COM(2021) 638 final  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 Directive 2012/19/EU on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE)   
 
 
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 Directive 2012/19/EU on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) 

1. INTRODUCTION 

Directive 2012/19/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2012 on waste 
electrical  and  electronic  equipment(1)  (the  WEEE  Directive)  lays  down  rules  on  the 
management  of  WEEE  with  a  view  to  contributing  to  sustainable  production  and 
consumption by, as a first priority, the prevention of WEEE and, in addition, by the re-use, 
recycling and other forms of recovery of such waste so as to reduce the disposal of waste and 
to  contribute  to  the  efficient  use  of  resources  and  the  retrieval  of  valuable  secondary  raw 
materials. 

The  WEEE  Directive  empowers  the  Commission  to  adopt  delegated  acts,  as  referred  to  in 
Article 20, with a view to: 

 

 

 

 

laying  down  any  transitional  adjustments  in  order  to  address  difficulties  faced  by 
Member States in adhering to the WEEE collection rates set out in the Directive, as 
provided for in Article 7(4); 
the  possible  amendment  of  Annex  VII  on  selective  treatment  requirements,  to 
introduce other treatment technologies, as provided for in Article 8(4); 
laying down criteria for the assessment of equivalent conditions for the treatment of 
WEEE taking place outside of the EU, as provided for in Article 10(3); 
the adaptation of Annexes IV, VII, VIII and IX to scientific and technical progress, as 
provided for in its Article 19. 

2. LEGAL BASIS 

According to Article 20(2) of the WEEE Directive the Commission has been conferred upon 
the  power  to  adopt  a  number  of  delegated  acts  for  a  period  of  five  years,  starting  from  13 
August 2012.  

The Commission on 18 April 2017 submitted to the European Parliament and the Council its 
Report2 on the exercise of the power to adopt delegated acts pursuant to the WEEE Directive. 
In  accordance  with  Article  20(2),  third  sentence,  the  delegation  of  power  has  been  tacitly 
extended  for  another  five-year  period,  ending  on  13  August  2022.  The  present  report  is 
submitted  by  the  Commission  to  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council,  as  required  by 
Article 20(2), second sentence, to present its activities in relation to the exercise of the power 
to adopt delegated acts during this period. 

In accordance with Article 20(2), the delegation of power shall be tacitly extended for periods 
of  an  identical  duration,  unless  the  European  Parliament  or  the  Council  opposes  such  an 
extension not later than three months before the end of each period. 

1 OJ L 197, 24.7.2012, p. 38. 
2 COM/2017/0172 final 

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3. EXERCISE OF THE DELEGATION 

During  the  period  covered  by  this  report,  the  Commission  did  not  make  use  of  any  of  the 
delegated powers conferred on it under the WEEE Directive, for the reasons explained below. 

3.1. Transitional adjustments in order to address difficulties faced by Member States in 
adhering to the collection rates set out in the Directive, Article 7(4) 
The  Commission’s  previous  report  on  the  exercise  of  its  delegated  powers  had,  inter  alia, 
noted that the Czech Republic, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia have made 
use  of  the  derogation  possibility  provided  for  in  Article  7(3)  of  the  WEEE  Directive,  to 
postpone the achievement of the collection rate to be achieved from 2019 until a date of their 
own  choice  which  shall  not  be  later  than  14  August  2021.  Bulgaria,  Lithuania  and  Malta 
furthermore made use of this derogation possibility. 

The  previous  report  hadconcluded  that  there  was  no  justification,  in  the  form  of  specific 
circumstances,  which  would  have  required  the  adoption  of  a  delegated  act  with  further 
transitional arrangements.  

As  was  also  announced,  the  Commission  provided  support  and  guidance  to  the  Member 
States by assisting assist them to addresspossible difficulties in reaching their targets, through 
a  targeted  initiative  on  compliance  promotion,  supported  by  a  study  carried  out  in  2016-
20173. In particular, the objective was to get an overview of national practices in relation to 
WEEE management and to assess the implementation and performance of Member States in 
relation to the WEEE Directive. Critical factors and obstacles to reaching the targets as well 
as  good  practices  wereidentified,  so  to  enable  learning  from  each  other  and  further 
developing WEEE policies and practices at Member State level. 

As regards the 2019 collection targets, it needs to be taken into consideration that according 
to  Article  16(6)  of  the  WEEE  Directive,  Member  States  shall  report  the  data  for  that  year 
within 18 months of the end of the reporting year i.e. by the end of June 2021. At the time of 
drawing  up  the  current  report,  the  Commission  has  not  yet  received  a  full  set  of  officially 
reported data from the Member States regarding the WEEE collection rates for the year 2019. 

The Commission observesthat also for the current period covered by the current report there 
were  no  specific  circumstances  which  would  have  required  the  adoption  of  a  delegated  act 
with  transitional  adjustments  to  address  difficulties  faced  by  Member  States  in  adhering  to 
the  collection  rates  set  out  in  the  WEEE  Directive,  and  in  particular  to  the  collection  rates 
applicable from 2019 onwards. 

3.2. Amendment of Annex VII, Article 8(4) 
Annex VII refers to the selective treatment for WEEE materials and components. 

Article 8(4) of the WEEE Directive empowers the Commission to amend Annex VII in order 
to introduce other treatment technologies that ensure at least the same level of protection for 
human health and the environment. 

3 “WEEE compliance promotion exercise”: https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/09c7215a-49c5-11e8-
be1d-01aa75ed71a1/language-en  

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During the period covered by this report, the Commission did not conclude on the need for 
any action that would have led to amending Annex VII. 

Of relevance to the issue covered by that Annex, the Commission between December 2018 
and November 2020 carried out a “Study on quality standards for the treatment of WEEE”4, 
including in depth stakeholder consultations. That study, inter alia, proposed amendments to 
the entries of the list of substances, mixtures and components that have to be removed from 
separately collected WEEE, as laid down in Annex VII, in light of new scientific evidence as 
regards  hazardous  components,  materials  or  substances  in  WEEE5  and  taking  into 
consideration current treatment technologies. The study has been done in the broader context 
of a possible further development and harmonisation of WEEE treatment requirements, also 
based  on  the  mandate  under  Article  8(5)  of  the  WEEE  Directive.  A  further  assessement  is 
currently  underway6  regarding  the  related  economic,  environmental  and  social  impacts  and 
further action on that basis mayinclude an amendment of Annex VII, which can however at 
present not be decided upon in isolation.   

3.3.  Criteria  for  the  assessment  of  equivalent  conditions  for  the  treatment  of  WEEE 
taking place outside the EU, Article 10(3) 
According to Article 10(2) of the WEEE Directive, WEEE exported from the EU only counts 
towards the fulfilment of obligations and targets set out in Article 11 if, in compliance with 
Regulations (EC) No 1013/2006 and (EC) No 1418/2007 on shipments of waste, the exporter 
can prove that the treatment took place in conditions that are equivalent to the requirements 
of this Directive. Article 10(3) requires the Commission to adopt delegated acts laying down 
detailed rules, supplementing those in Article 10(2), in particular concerning the criteria for 
assessing equivalent conditions for the treatment of WEEE outside the EU.  

Further to the developments taken up in the previous report, the Commission, as part of the 
“Study on quality standards for the treatment of WEEE”7, conducted an update of aprevious 
study  carried  out  in  2013  study  aiming  at  identifying  and  comparing  potential  options  for 
assessing  and  documenting  equivalent 
treatment  conditions,  and  at  providing 
recommendations  on  the  best  possible  policy  option(s).  This  included  a  stakeholder 
consultation.  Furthermore,  the  Commission  is  currently  reviewing  the  Waste  Shipment 
Regulation8, and in this context criteria related to the assessment of equivalent conditions for 
the treatment of waste outside the EU are being considered.  

Taking  into  consideration,  inter  alia,  this  ongoing  work,  the  Commission  did  not  adopt  a 
delegated act under Article 10(3) of the WEEE Directive. However, in the context of the EU 
environmental, raw materials and circular economy policies, related action remains a priority 

4 https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/2004b067-726a-11eb-9ac9-01aa75ed71a1/language-en/format-
PDF/source-193365602  
5 Such scientific evidence may include the findings and developments in the field of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and 
substances of very high concern (SVHCs) under the chemicals legislation during the past 20 years 
6 At the time of drawing up the current report, the Commission has been preparing the launch of a study to assess the likely 
impacts and feasibility of measures to further harmonise the requirements for the treatment of WEEE, which is expected to 
start by the time this report is submitted to the European Parliament and the Council.  
7 https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/2004b067-726a-11eb-9ac9-01aa75ed71a1/language-en/format-
PDF/source-193365602  
8 Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2006 on shipments of waste,     
OJ L 190, 12.7.2006, p. 1–98 

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and will continue to be assessed together with proposals as part of the revision of the Waste 
Shipment Regulation. 

3.4.  Adaptation  of  Annexes  IV,  VII,  VIII  and  IX  to  scientific  and  technical  progress, 
Article 19 
Annex IV refers to a non-exhaustive list of EEE that falls within the EEE categories; Annex 
VII  refers  to  the  selective  treatment  for  material  and  components  of  WEEE;  Annex  VIII 
specifies the technical requirements for sites for storage and treatment of WEEE and Annex 
IX presents the symbol for marking EEE. 

During  the  period  covered  by  this  report,  the  Commission  did  not  adopt  relevant  delegated 
acts to adapt the above- mentioned Annexes to scientific and technical progress. 

As regards Annexes VII and VIII,  as referred to  above, the “Study on quality standards for 
the  treatment  of  WEEE”carried  out  for  the  Commission  identifies,  among  the  options 
proposed,  specific requirements that could be included in these two Annexes, to adapt them 
to  scientific  and  technical  progress  These  include  requirements  for  the  treatment  of  several 
types of WEEE, which occur at increasing volumes in the recent years, such as photovoltaic 
panels, air conditioning equipment, flat panel displays, refrigerators using vacuum insulation 
panels,  or  WEEE  containing  Li-accumulators  but  which  are  missing 
the 
abovementioned annexes because these type of waste did not occur in the past.  

from 

The  Commission  is  currently  further  assessing  these  options,  together  with  others,  in  the 
context of a possible further development and harmonisation of WEEE treatment standards, 
as part of the follow-up assessment identified above.  

4. CONCLUSION 

Over the past five years, the Commission has not exercised the delegated powers conferred to 
it  under  Directive  2012/19/EU  for  the  reasons  described  in  this  report.  It  may  do  so  in  the 
future, for the reasons given.  

The Commission invites the European Parliament and the Council to take note of this report. 

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