CELEX: 51991PC0544
Language: en
Date: 1991-12-11
Title: Amended proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION ( EEC ) concerning a Community award scheme for an Eco-label

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
                                         C0M(91) 544 final
                                         Brussels, 11 December 1991
                       Amended proposal for a
                      COUNCIL RgSUlAUQM (EEC)
        concerning a Community award scheme for an Eco-label
      (presented by the Commission pursuant to Article 149(3)
                         of the EEC-Treaty)
 ---pagebreak---                                                             z
                     EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
1 Tn February 1991 the Commission presented a proposal for a
Council regulation covering a Community award scheme for an Eco-
label (C0M(91) 37 final) under Article 130S of the Treaty
establishing the European Economic Community.
2. The European Parliament adopted, on 10 December 1991, its
opinion calling on the Commission to amend its proposal
accordingly, pursuant to Article 149(3) of the EEC Treaty.
T. The present text contains the amendments proposed by the
Parliament which were acceptable to the Commission and in
particular the new compromise Article 7 bis.
4. Article 7 bis covers the establishment of a consultation
^orum which the Commission consults prior to the submissison of
proposals for the establishment of new product groups and
criteria to the Advisory Committee. The consultation forum is
composed of representatives from the main interest groups
namely, industry, commerce, consumer and environmental
organisations and independent scientists.
5. The process of awarding labels to individual products is now
the responsibility of Competent Bodies in Member States rather
that a central jury. Under the procedure set out in Article 12
the Competent Body, having evaluated an application for a label,
advises the Commission of its intention to award a label. The
Commission arranges for the results of the evaluation to be
reviewed by other Competent Bodies. If no objections are raised
within 45 days the Competent Body may award the label. If
objections are raised then the Competent Body wishing to award
the label may request the Commission to submit the proposal for
decision through the Advisory Committee procedure.
6. A number of changes have been made to the whereas clauses. A
new clause has been added which underlines the long term goal of
creating uniform eco-labelling in the Community and the drafting
of clauses 7 and 9 has been improved.
7. In addition to changes to the text resulting from the above
amendments, drafting changes have also been made to Article 1
(objectives). Article 5 (product groups), Article 6 (general
principles). Article 7 (elaboration of specific criteria).
Article 10 (the Eco-label), Article 17 (publication), Article 19
(advertising) and Article 22 (revision).
 ---pagebreak---                                                                                                           ^
                     ORIGINAL TEXT                                         AMENDED TEXT
  Iff». COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
 ff.rvmg regard to the Treaty establishing the European
 Economic Community, and in particular Ankle 130s
thereof,
Î Ijvmg regard to the proposal from the Commission,
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament,
11 jvmg regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee,
Whereas the objectives and principles of the Community's
environment policy, as set out in the European Community
Action Programmes on the Environment ('), aim, in
particular, at preventing, reducing and as far as possible
eliminating pollution, particularly at source, and ensuring
sound management of raw materials resources, on the basis
also of the 'polluter pays' principle; whereas the Fourth
European Community Action Programme on die
Environment (1987 to 1991) (2) highlights the opportunity
to develop a policy towards clean products;
Whereas the Council Resolution of 7 May 1990 (*) invited
the Commission to submit as soon as possible a proposal for
a Community-wide Eco-labelling scheme covering the
environmental impact during the life cycle of the product;
Whereas the European Parliament, in its resolution of 19
June 1987 on waste and landfill policy ( 4 ), supported a
Community Environmental Label for eco-products;
Whereas there is increased public interest in information
about products which are environmentally less harmful;
whereas at least one Member State has already an award
scheme for such products and several other Member Sûtes
are considering the setting up of such a scheme;
Whereas a system to award an Eco-label for environmentally
less harmful products will highlight more benign alternatives
and therefore provide consumers and users with guidance;
                                                                      Whereas this Regulation is intended
                                                                      to create the basis for uniform
                                                                      eco-labelling in* the Community;
     Whereas such guidance can best be achieved by establishing
     uniform criteria for the award scheme which apply
     throughout the Community; whereas existing or future
     independent award schemes can continue to exist for a period
     of five years, and at the end of this period the Commission
     should re-examine this solution in the light of the experience '
     gained;
             (') OJ  N o C 112, 20. 12. 1973, p. 1.
                  OJ N o C 139. 13. 6. 1977, p. 1.
                  OJ N o C 46, 17. 2. 1983, p. 1.
                  OJ N o C 70, 18. 3. 1987, p. 3.
              I2) OJ No C 328. 7. 12. 1987, p. 1.
             P) O'   N „ C 122. 18. 5. 1990. o. 2.
 ---pagebreak---                                                                                                      y
            ORIGINAL TEXT                                     AMENDED TEXT
Whereas the award scheme should be                          Whereas the' award scheme should be
bayed        on     voluntary          application;         based    on   voluntary     application;
whoroas such an approach, in relying                        whereas     such    an v approach,    in
un the market              forces, will also                relaying on the market forces, will
contribute              to      research            and     also contribute       to research and
di.-vo 1 opiTicnt, in particular of less                    development, in particular of less
polluting technologies, and therefore                       polluting        technologies,       and
innovation;                                                 therefore innovation, whereas the
                                                            ECO-label     will     thus    encourage
                                                            European firms to incorporate the
                                                            environment       factor    into   their
                                                            strategy, thereby improving their
                                                             international competitive position;
 Whereas uniform application of the criteria and compliance
 with procedures should be ensured throughout the
 Community;
Whereas the award scheme for the                            Whereas the award scheme for the
ECO-label will take into account the-                       ECO-label will take into account
interests of all groups concerned,'                         the    interests     of    all    grpups
industry,        commerce,        consumers         and     concerned,      industry,     commerce,
environmentalist,               and        therefore        consumers and environmentalist, and
should provide for involvement of                           therefore      should     provide    for
these groups in the award procedure                         involvement of these groups in the
to individual products which conform                        selection of product groups for
to the established criteria.                                which the label will be awarded and
                                                            the award criteria;
 Whereas this label should complement other existing or
 future Community labelling systems in particular those
 giving information on energy consumption;
 Whereas the European Environment Agency should be made
 responsible for certain tasks in connection with the
 preparation of environmental labels and criteria for the
 award of such labels to products, technologies, goods,
 services and programmes which preserve natural
 resources,
 HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
 ---pagebreak---                                                                                                                                          J~
          ORIGINAL TEXT                                                AMENDED TEXT
                             CHAPTER I
         OBJECTIVES AND R£LD OF AMPLICATION
                                                            Article     I
     i'r.iu        Regulation           establishes             a      1. This Regulation establishes £
    i-'-orutnunity award scheme for an Eco-                            Community award scheme for an Eco-
     .lab-el with a view to promoting                                  label with a view to promoting the
    12roducts which are environmentally                                development, manufacture, marketing
     less harmful, and therefore have                                  and use of environmentally-friendly
     an overall environmental impact                                   products which therefore have an
     significantly less than that of                                   overall                environmental                    impact
    other products in the same product                                 significantly                   less than that of
     group.                                                            other products in the same product
                                                                       group.
     The award scheme is designed to:                                  2. The award scheme is designed to:
         encourage              manufacturers                 to                  encourage              manufacturers                 to
         design            and    produce            products                     design          and produce                products
         which              have           a       reduced                        which               have         a        reduced
         environmental                 impact           during                    environmental                 impact          during
         manufacturing,                    distribution,                         manufacturing,                    distribution,
         consumption and use as well as                                           consumption and use as well as
         during disposal after use;                                               during disposal after use;
         provide consumers with better                                        ~ to           encourage           consumers              to
          information on the environmental                                        c h o o s e            p r o d u c t s            and
         performance of products.                                                 t e c h n o l o g i e s which r e s p e c t t h e
                                                                                  environment.
     T h e s e e n v i r o n m e n t a l l y more b e n i g n                 These            environmentally-friendly
     product             alternatives           should       not              products            should not              compromise
     compromise              product         or      workers'                 p r o d u c t s a f e t y o r w o r k e r s ' and
      safety           nor    significantly               affect              c o n s u m e r a ' h e a l t h and s a f e t y nor
     the         fitness         for        use       of      the             significantly affect the fitness
     product.                                                                 f o r u s e of t h e p r o d u c t .
3. The ^ e d u c t i o n o f              environmental             3 . The r e d u c t i o n of              environmental
impact w i l l be a c h i e v e d t h r o u g h t h e               impact w i l l be achieved through t h e
minimisation of:                                                   m i n i m i s a t i o n of:
     u s e of n a t u r a l           resources            and      - u s e of n a t u r a l              resources            and
     energy resources;                                                  energy r e s o u r c e s ;
                                                                    - u s e of raw m a t e r i a l s ;
      emissions           into  air,       water      and    to     - emissions              into     air,    w a t e r and      to
      soil;                                                             soil;
      g e n e r a t i o n of w a s t e and n o i s e ;              - g e n e r a t i o n of w a s t e and n o i s e ;
  .irui t h r o u g h        the maximisation                of        and        through           t h e use          of     clean_,_
  p, « «lurt. l i f e a n d , where ajopliça_ble^                      l o w e s t - r i s k ,                sustainable
  i though                the     uae          of        clean         t e c h n o l o g i e s t o ensure a high level
  t .K.hnologies t o e n s u r e a h i g h l e v e l                   of e n v i r o n m e n t a l p r o t e c t i o n and t o
  ni e n v i r o n m e n t a l p r o t e c t i o n .                   p r event              de a t r u c t i o n        o f _____tJie_
                                                                       ecosystem,
 ---pagebreak---                ORIGINAL TEXT                                  AMENDED TEXT
                            Article 2
                      Field of application
This Regulation       shall not apply to food, drink or
 pharmaceuticals.
                            Article 3
                           Definitions
 For the purpose of this Regulation:
 (a) 'substance' means chemical elements and their
       compounds as defined in Article 2 of Council Directive
       67/548/EECO;
 (b) 'preparation' means mixtures or solutions as defined in
       Article 2 of Council Directive 88/379/EEC (2);
 (c) 'product group' means products which serve similar
       purposes and which have equivalence of use;
 (d) 'cradle to grave' means the life cycle of a product from
       manufacturing, distribution, consumption and use to
       disposal after use.
                           Article 4
                 Other Community provisions
The provisions laid down in this Regulation shall apply
without prejudice either to other Community provisions
relating to the classification, packaging and labelling of
products or to the provisions laid down in Council Directive
83/189/EEC(»).
   (') OJ No L 196, 16. 8. 1967, p. 1.
   (') OJ No L 187, 16. 7. 1988, p. 14.
    (') OJ No 1.109, 26. 4. 1983, p 8.
 ---pagebreak---            ORIGINAL TEXT                                         AMENDED TEXT
                                                                                                 9
                             CHAPTER 1!
     tSTAHl ISHMENT OF PRODUCT GROUPS AND CRtTERlA
                               Article 5
                            Product groups
        Product            groups           shall         be          The product groups and their
        established in accordance with the                            period   of   validity  shall  be
        procedure laid down in Article 9.                             established in accordance with
                                                                      the    procedure   laid  down  in
                                                                      Articles 8 and 9,
2. Each product group shall be                                2. Each product croup shall be
defined in such a way as to ensure                            defined in such a way as to ensure
that all competing products which                             that all products which serve .the
serve similar purposes and which                              same purposes and which have
have equivalence of use are included                          equivalence of use are included in
in the same group.                                            the same group.                  ^
3. General and specific criteria for                               The    specific     environmental
    each product group shall conform                               criteria for each product group
    to the requirements of Articles 6                              shall conform to the requirements
    and 7.                                                         of Articles 6 and 7.
  4.    Requests for the establishment of a new product group
  shall be addressed to the competent bodies referred to in
  Article 11. The competent body shall decide if it wishes to
  request the Commission to submit a proposal to the advisory
  committee referred to in Article 9.
 ---pagebreak---                     ORIGINAL TEXT                                           AMENDED TEXT
                                                                                                                             ?
                               Article 6
                           General principles
1 . The          Kco-label           shaLl      only       be        1. The Eco-label may be awarded to
     a w a r d e d t o p r o d u c t s w h i c h -do n o t                 products which satisfy Community
     contravene               Community            health/                 health, safety and environment
     s a f e t y           and         environment                         requirements.
     requirements.
   2.     The Eco-label shall not be awarded to substances and
   preparations classified as dangerous in accordance with
   Direaive 67/548/EEC. Nor shall the Eco-label be awarded
   to products containing a substance or preparation classified
   as dangerous in accordance with the said Directive and likely
   to harm man and/or the environment.
      The         Eco-label           shall      only       be              The      Eco-label         shall     not . be
      c o n f e r r e d on p r o d u c t s manufactured                     c o n f e r r e d      on        p r o d u c t s
      by       a      process        which      does       not              manufactured by a proc.ess which
      c o n t r a v e n e Community e n v i r o n m e n t a l               c o n t r a v e n e s         C o m m u n i t y
      legislation             and i s       unlikely        to              environmental            legislation         or
      harm s i g n i f i c a n t l y man a n d / o r t h e                  t h a t o f a n y Member S t a t e o r w h i c h
      environment.                                                           significantly       h a r m s man      and/or
                                                                            the environment.
              4.      The Eco-label shall be awarded to products which
              meet the objectives set out in Anicle 1 and represent a 'state
              of the art' approach in contributing to an improvement in the
              quality of the environment.
                                                                             Products for which the Eco-label
                                                                             has been requested imported into
                                                                             the Community shall be subject to
                                                                             the same stringent requirements
                                                                             as products manufactured in the
                                                                             Community.
 ---pagebreak---                   ORIGINAL TEXT                                        AMENDED TEXT
                                     Articlt 7
                         Elaboration of specific criteria
 1. Specific environmental criteria                             1. Specific environmental criteria
 for each product group shall be                                for each product group shall be
 established         using        a    'cradle to               established using a      'cradle to
 grave'           approach             including                grave' approach subject to the
 consideration of the objectives set                            provisions    of   Article   1   and
 out in Article 1.                   The criteria               Article 6.    The criteria shall be
  shall be established by reference to                          established by reference to the
 the matrix format shown in Annex 1^.                           matrix format shown in Annex I;
 shall be based on the use of clean                             they must be clear, precise and
 technologies where applicable and                              stringent and based on the use of
  shall     ensure       a high           level of              clean,    lowest-risk,   sustainable
 environmental protection.                                      technologies and shall ensure a high
                                                                level of environmental protection.
 2.     The European Environment Agency, hereinafter
referred to as the 'Agency', shall undertake, at the request of
 the Commission, preparatory work of a scientific and
 technical nature necessary for the establishment of
'Criteria.
 ---pagebreak---                                                              "10
ORIGINAL TEXT             AMENDED TEXT
                             Article 7bis
              1. In order to define the product groups
                 and specific environmental criteria
                 referred to in Article 7, and before
                 establishing a draft to be presented
                 to the Committee        referred    to in
                 Article    9,   the   Commission     shall
                 consult the main interested groups
                 who will meet to this end within a
                 consultâtIve forum.
              2. Representatives     at    the    Community
                 level of at       least    the following
                  interest groups shall belong to the
                 forum :
                 - Industry,
                 - retailers,
                 - consumers organisations,
                 -environmental organisations,
                 - independent scientists.
                 Each of these groups        shall   have a
                 maximum of 3 seats.
                 The interest groups which are parties
                 to    the    forum    must     ensure    an
                 appropriate representation depending
                 on    the    categories     of    products
                 concerned
              3. The Commission shall take account of
                  the opinion delivered by the Forum
                 when preparing the draft which is
                  submitted to the Committee referred
                  to in Art icle 9.
 ---pagebreak---                                                                              n
                  ORIGINAL TEXT                                 AMENDED TEXT
                           Article 8
                Adoption of the specific criteria
Without prejudice to Anicle 22, the specific environmental
criteria referred to in Anicle 7 for each product group shall
be adopted by the Commission in accordance with the
procedure laid down in Article 9.
                           Article 9
                      Advisory Committee
1.     The Commission shall be assisted by a committee of an
advisory nature composed of the representatives of the
Member States and chaired by the representative of the
Commission.
The representative of the Commission shall submit to the
committee a draft of the measures to be taken. The
committee shall deliver its opinion on the draft, within a time
limit which the chairman may lay down according to the
urgency of the matter, if necessary by taking a vote.
The opinion shall be recorded in the minutes; in addition,
each Member State shall have the right to ask to have its
position recorded in the minutes.
The Commission shall take the utmost account of the
opinion delivered by the committee. It shall inform the
committee of the manner in which its opinion has been taken
into account.
2.      The Commission may consult the committee on any
mutter related to the operation of the award scheme for an
 Fco-label.
 ---pagebreak---                                                                                                     0
                                                                                                     <.
               ORIGINAL TEXT                                       AMENDED TEXT
                       CHAPTER III
AWARD OF AN ECO-LABEL TO INDIVIDUAL PRODUCTS
                        Article 10
                      The Eco-label
    To achieve the objectives set out                             To achieve the objectives set out
    in     Article         1/      the Eco-label,                 in Article     1, the Eco-label,
    illustrated in Annex II, shall be                             illustrated in Annex II, shall be
    awarded            to       products              best        awarded as a logo to products
    fulfilling          the requirements of                       fulfilling the requirements of
    Articles 6 and 7.                                             Articles 6 and 7.
    Applications for the use of the                            2. Applications for the use of the
    label shall be made in accordance                             label shall be made in accordance
    with the procedures set out in                                with the procedures set out in
    Article 12.                                                   Article 12.
    The decision to award a label to                              The decision to award a label to
     individual products amongst those                            individual products amongst those
    which best fulfil the criteria                                which     fulfil    the   criteria
    referred to in Articles 6 and 7                               referred to in Articles 6 and 7
     shall      be      taken        by       the      Jury       shall be taken by the Competent
    established under Article 13.                                 Body referred to in Article 11 in
                                                                  accordance    with the procedure
                                                                  pursuant to Article 12.
    The main reasons for granting the                          3. To    provide     consumers   with
     Eco-label shall be mentioned, if                             sufficiently clear information,
     possible, in or near the label in                            the main reasons for granting the
     code      form       and      shall        form       an     Eco-label shall be mentioned on
     integral part of the label in                                the label in accordance with the
     accordance with the procedure set                            details of the procedure set out
     out in Article 9.                                             in Article 9.
4.    The label shall be awarded for a fixed period of time,
dependent on the period of validity of the criteria, which may
be altered where necessary after review.
5.    The Eco-label shall not be used under any
circumstances before a contract on the conditions of use has
been concluded with the competent body to which the
product application was submitted.
6.    The Eco-label shall not be used in a manner likely to
mislead the consumer.
 ---pagebreak---                                                                                                       ^
                 ORIGINAL TEXT                                     AMENDED TEXT
                           Article 11
                Designation of competent bodies
  Each Member State shall designate the body or bodies,
  hereinafter referred to as the 'competent body', responsible
  for carrying out the tasks detailed in Article 12 and inform
  the Commission thereof. The competent body shall be
  independent from industrial or commercial interests.
                             Article 12
               Requests for award of an Eco-label
     Manufacturers or                 importers may            1. Manufacturers or importers may
     apply for award of a label to the                            apply for award of a label to the
     Competent Body in the Member State                           Competent   Body   in the Member
     in       which         the        product          is        State in which the product/ is
     manufactured or into which the                               manufactured or into which the
     product is imported.                                         product is imported.
    The Competent Body shall assess                               The Competent Body shall assess
     the environmental performance of                             the environmental performance of
     the product by reference to the                              the product by reference to the
     agreed        general         principles         and         agreed   general principles and
     specific performance criteria for                            specific environmental criteria
     the product group.                                           for the product group.        If a
                                                                  product     satisfies   all     the
                                                                  criteria, the Eco-label shall be
                                                                  awarded.
2. The       Competent            Body     may       also        The applicant shall forward to
   request that applicants for a                                 the     Competent      Body     all
    label submit all or part of the                               information    required   for    an
    product for testing.                                         assessment of the product and
                                                                  shall, if necessary, make all or
                                                                 part of the product available for
                                                                 testing.
 ---pagebreak---                 ORIGINAL TEXT                                         AMENDED TEXT
    After the product assessment the                              3. After the product assessment the
    Competent Body shall decide if a                                 Competent Body shall decide on
    request for the award of a label                                 the award of the label.                          If it
    s h a. 11 be submitted to the Jury                               decides to award the label, it
    1219vided for in Article 13.                                     shall inform the Commission of
                                                                      its decision and of the results
                                                                     of         its        assessment.                  The
                                                                     Commission               shall         immediately
                                                                      notify the other Member States.
                                                                     After a period of 45 days after
                                                                      such notification, the Competent
                                                                      Body         may     award the Eco-label
                                                                      unless the Commission or a Member
                                                                      State submits to it, within this
                                                                      period, reasoned objections to
                                                                      the award of the label. If such
                                                                      objections                are        made.        the
                                                                      Commission shall, at the reguest
                                                                      of the Competent Body, forward to
                                                                    the committae"^ et —"E—pursuant /to
                                                                      Article 9 the proposal for the
                                                                      award of the label; ...the committee
                                                                      shall then decide.
 4.      If an application for a label is rejected the competent
 body shall advise the applicant of the reasons for
 rejection.
 Member States shall provide for an appeal procedure in such
 cases.
5.     An undertaking may withdraw an application for a
new label, or cease to use an existing label, after notifying the
competent body.
                                                                      On r e c e i p t of an a p p l i c a t i o n f o r
                                                                      award          of     the      Eco-label,          the
                                                                      C o m p e t e n t Body may d e c i d e            that
                                                                      t h e p r o d u c t b e l o n g s t o n o n e of
                                                                      the        product         groups        for     which
                                                                       criteria             have       already          been
                                                                       established.              In t h i s c a s e , t h e
                                                                       Competent              Body      shall         decide-
                                                                       whether             to     submit           to     the
                                                                       Commission                for       approval          a
                                                                       p r o p o s a l f o r e s t a b l i s h i n g a new
                                                                       product group.
                                                                       The C o m p e t e n t B o d i e s s h a l l kee;.
                                                                        records            of     all        applications
                                                                        received             and      submitted            fo 1 -
                                                                        assessment                   and          of     a1i
                                                                        applications                    granted           and
                                                                        rejected.              Each Competent Body
                                                                        shall            forward       to       the     other
                                                                        Competent              Bodies         at      regular
                                                                         i n t e r v a l s a summary of s u c h d a t a
                                                                         i n a form             jointly         established
                                                                         w i t h t h e Commission.
 ---pagebreak---                                                                                             A£
                    ORIGINAL TEXT                           AMENDED TEXT
                                                     8. The members of the Competent
                                                        Body, responsible for assessing an
                                                        application for ti*e label nay in
                                                        no circumstances have any links
                                                        with the firms coneertie<i or fca«e
                                                        i itt erest sic* such £ ira® .
                           Artkkt3
                           Tfcrpfff
The J u r y                                           Deleted
A Jury is hereby established for the                  Deleted
award          of     labels       to   individual
products amongst those which best
meet the reguirements of Articles 6
and 7.
1. The Jury           shall consist of 18 full        Deleted
   members,            there being for each
    M (. ? ni b e r   State ne representative
    and one             representative of the
    following          interest groups;
     -    industry
     -    commerce
     -    consumer organizations
     -    environmental organizations
     -    workers organizations
     -    media
 2. An          alternate      member    shall   be    Deleted
     appointed for each full member.
 3. Full members and alternate members                 Deleted
     of the Jury shall be nominated by
     the Council on the basis of;
     - a proposal              from    the   Member
          States for the representatives
          of Member States
          a proposal from the Commission
          for the representative of the
          interest groups.
     The Council              in nominating the
     rn embers           of     the   Jury     shall
      endeavour           to     achieve    . fair.
      balance in the composition of the
      Jury between the various interest
      groups.
 ---pagebreak---                                                           Aç
         ORIGINAL TEXT                       AMENDED TEXT
 '1 • ..The list  of  the  members  and  the  Deleted
      alternate      members    shall    be
      published in the Official Journal
      of the European Communities for
      information purposes.
 5. The term of office of full members        Deleted
      and alternate members shall be
      three years.     Their appointments
      shall be renewable.
      On expiry of their term of office,      Deleted
      the full members and alternate
      members shall remain in office
      until they are replaced or their
      appointments are renewed.
      A member's term of office shall         Deleted
      end before the expiry of the three
      year period with his resignation
      or following a communication from
      the    Member      State   concerned
      indicating that the term of office
      is terminated.
    For the remainder of the term of
    office, a member shall be replaced
     in accordance with the procedure
     laid down in paragraph 3.
     The Jury shall elect a chairman         Deleted
     and an alternate and adopt its
     rules of procedure.
9. The Jury shall take all decisions         Deleted
     on the basis of a two-thirds
     majority of the members.
10. In       considering    the  proposals   Deleted
        from the Competent Bodies the
        Jury shall, in awarding labels,
        select those products which best
        meet the reguirements set out in
        Articles 6 and 7.
11.     If the Jury decides not to award     Deleted
        the   label   to   an   individual
        product, the reasons for the
        rejection shall be stated.
 ---pagebreak---                                                                                   1s>
             ORIGINAL TEXT                                           AMENDED TEXT
1 O     The Jury shall communicate its                             Deleted
        reasoned             decisions            to      the
        applicants                  and         to       the
        Commission.                 The        Commission
         shall        publish          them        in     the
        Official Journal of the European
        Communities               to      enable          all
         interested parties to make their
        commenta.
        The Commission may of its own
         initiative raise an objection to
         such decisions, within a period
        of two months, if it identifies
         a manifest error of judgement or
         in case of major violation of
        procedures.               In this case it
         shall return the matter to the
        Jury for reconsideration.
     Furthermore, any person for whom the decision of the
     jury constitutes a grievance may within a period of 30
     days from publication of the decision in the Official
     Journal notify the Commission of a request to revise the
     decision on grounds of manifest error or major
     violation of procedures. The Commission shall
     examine this request in the framework of the appeaJ
     procedure laid down in the second subparagraph. The
     Commission shall return the case to the jury for
      reconsideration if it considers that the request should be
      accepted and shall inform the applicant accordingly. If
      the request cannot be accepted the Commission shall
      notify the applicant of the decision to reject the
      request.
      The decision of the jury shall be considered approved by
      the Commission if the latter has not made any objection
      within the two-month period.
                               Article 14
                 The European Environment Agency
    1.      The Agency shall undertake, in consultation with
    ippropn.ue specialized scientific and technical bodies,
    pu-p.uatory work necessary for the establishment of the
    specific criteria as laid down in Article 7 (2).
    2.      The Agency, in cooperation with the competent
    bodies, shall provide suggestions on the format and scope of
    the information to be provided to the competent body by an
    applicant as set out in Article 12(1) and on the procedures to
    lie followed by competent bodies when evaluating and
    transmitting the request for an Eco-label.
        The Aqe_nçy.._.sha_l_l_ assist_...the Jury                   ILe_le_.ted
        in carry_ing_out _i13 tasks .
 ---pagebreak---                        ORIGINAL TEXT                                     AMENDED TEXT
                              Article IS
                            Terms of use
  1.      The competent body shall issue contracts for the terms
  of use of the label.
  2.      The terms and conditions of the use for the label shall   2.    The terms and conditions of the use for the label shall
  include the fee to be paid by the applicant for the use of the    include the fee to be paid by the applicant for the use of the
  label. This fee should be set at a level to cover all the         label. This fee should be set at a level to cover all the
  reasonable costs incurred by the.competent body and the           reasonable costs incurred by the competent body .
  jury.
  These terms of use shall also include provisions for              These terms of use shall also include provisions for
  withdrawing the authorization to use the'label.                   withdrawing the authorization to use the label.
  3.      The duration of the authorization for the use of the
  label shall not exceed the period of validity of the criteria for
  the product group.
                           CHAPTER IV
                       OTHER PROVISIONS
                             Article 16
                          Confidentiality
1.      If the manufacturer or importer considers the                1.     If the manufacturer or importer considers the
information obtained in pursuance of Article 12 to be                information obtained in pursuance of Article 12 to be
confidential, commercially sensitive and, if released, likely to     confidential, commercially sensitive and, if released, likely to
cause his business industrial or commercial harm, the                cause his business; industrial or commercial harm, the
applicant for a label may indicate what specific details of the      applicant for a label may indicate what specific details of the
inlormatiun should be kept secret from all other persons             information should be kept secret from all other persons
other than the competent bodies, the members of the jury and         other than the competent bodies                             and
the Commission. Full justification must be given in such             the Commission. Full justification must be given in such
cases.                                                               cases.
2.      The competent body receiving the application shall
decide which information should be kept secret and inform
the applicant for the label.
3.       In all cases, the following information shall be made
 available:
 — the name of the product,
 — the manufacturer or importer of the product,
 — the reasons and relevant information for awarding or
     refusing the label.
 4.      Competent bodies and the jury members shall be
 required not to disclose information to which they have
 gained access through the proceedings.
 ---pagebreak---                                                                                                   4S>
                ORIGINAL TEXT                                    AMENDED TEXT
                         Article 17
                        Publication
1. The Commission shall publish the                             The Commission shall publish the
     product groups and the associated                          product groups and the associated
     specific criteria in the Official                          specific environmental criteria,
     Journal            of        the        European           and their period of validity in
     Communities.                                               the   Official  Journal  of   the
                                                                European Communities.
 2.    The Commission shall also ensure that the list of
produas for which an Eco-label has been granted and the
name of the relevant manufacturers or importers is
published.
3.     The Commission shall also publish the names of the
competent bodies in the Official Journal.
                          Article 18
                         Information
Member States shall ensure that consumers and undertakings
are informed about the following:
(a) the objeaives of the Community Award Scheme for an
     Eco-label;
(b) product groups which have been selected;
(c) the general and specific criteria for product groups;
(d) the products which have been awarded an Eco-label;
(e) the procedures for applying for a label;
(f)  the competent body in the Member State.
                          Article 19
                         Advertising
 1.    References to the Eco-label in advertising shall only be
made once a label has been granted and only in relation to the
specific product for which the label has been granted.
 ---pagebreak---                                                                                                       ^  ^j
           ORIGINAL TEXT                                          AMENDED TEXT
  2. Any advertising or labelling which                               Any    advertising     or    labelling
      might lead to confusion with the                                which might lead to confusion in
      ECO-label should be prohibited.                                 substance or form with the ECO-
                                                                      label    should     be    prohibited.
                                                                      Where appropriate, the Member
                                                                      States      shall    apply       their
                                                                      legislation on trading practices,
                                                                      misleading       advertising         or
                                                                      counterfeit goods.
                                       Article 20
                                    Implementation
            Member States shall inform the Commission on measures
            they have taken to ensure compliance with this
            Regulation.
                                      Article 21
                      Free circulation within the Communities
            The fact that an Eco-label has been awarded or refused to a
            produa shall not impede, prohibit or restria the marketing
            of this produa.
                                     Article 22
                                      Revision
Revis ion                                                    E x t e n s ion    of   the      scope     of
                                                              application
Not later than 5 years after the                              Not later than 5 years after the
entry into force of this Regulation                           entry into force of this Regulation
the    Commission        shall        review       the        the Commission        shall review the
scheme in the light of experience                             scheme in the light of experience
gained during its operation, and in                           gained during its operation, and
particular                                                    shall       report    to   the     European
                                                              Parliament and the Council on the
                                                              application       of   this     Regulation.
                                                              Where appropriate it shall propose
                                                              suitable        amendments        to    this
                                                              Regulation.
    whether it is appropriate that                            Deleted
    na tional systems should continue
    to exist alongside the Community
    system
   _the field of application of the                           Deleted
    scheme as laid down in Article 2.
 ---pagebreak---                                                                                                         :
                                                                                                         7
                        ORIGINAL TEXT                                               AMENDED TEXT
      The Commission shall, if necessary, propose modifications
      to this Regulation.
       In its proposals presented in accordance with Article 20 of
       Council Regulation 1210/90 (') and not later than five years
       after the entry into force of this Regulation, the Commission
       shall propose the transfer to the Agency of the task of
      determining the specific criteria referred to in Article 8.
                                  Article 23
                               Entry into force
    This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 October 1991.
    It shall apply from 1 October 1992.
    This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly
    applicable in all Member States.
     (') OJNoL120, 11. 5. 1990, p. 1.
                                                   ANNEX/
                                               Assessment matrix
1
|                   Produa life cycle                  Production   Distribution   Utilization Disposal
!                  Environmental fields
   Waste relevance
1
|  Soil pollution and degradation
! Water contamination
i
   Air contamination
   Noise
   Consumption of energy
 1 Consumption of natural resources
  NB: For a simplified model the following criteria are suggested:
       0: almost none, neglible pollution; 1: moderate pollution; 2: considerable pollution.
 ---pagebreak---                                    p
                                     c
ORIGINAL TEXT         AMENDED TEXT
          ANNEX II
      -k *         •
      *     *       *
 ---pagebreak---                                                                     ISSN 0254-1475
                                                              COM(91) 544 final
                                                      DOCUMENTS
EN                                                                             10
                                Catalogue number : CB-CO-91-599-EN-C
                                                             ISBN 92-77-79090-3
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