Directive 96/57/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 September 1996 on energy efficiency requirements for household electric refrigerators, freezers and combinations thereof

DIRECTIVE 96/57/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 3 September 1996 on energy efficiency requirements for household electric refrigerators, freezers and combinations thereof
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 100a thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (2),
Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 189b of the Treaty (3),
(1) Whereas it is important to promote measures aimed at the proper functioning of the internal market;
(2) Whereas in its resolution of 15 January 1985 on the improvement of energy-saving programmes in the Member States (4) the Council invited the Member States to pursue and where necessary increase their efforts to promote the more rational use of energy by the further development of integrated energy-saving policies;
(3) Whereas household refrigeration appliances account for a significant share of domestic electricity consumption in the Community and thus of total electricity consumption; whereas the various models of refrigeration appliances available on the Community market have very different levels of consumption for a given volume and similar features, i.e. extremely variable energy efficiency;
(4) Whereas some Member States are on the point of adopting provisions relating to the efficiency of household refrigerators and freezers, which might create barriers to trade in these products in the Community;
(5) Whereas it is appropriate to take as a base a high level of protection in proposals for the approximation of the provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in Member States concerning health, safety, environmental protection and consumer protection; whereas this Directive ensures a high level of protection for both the environment and the consumer, in aiming at a significant improvement of the energy efficiency of these appliances;
(6) Whereas the adoption of such measures falls within Community competence; whereas the requirements of this Directive are within the limits of its objectives, thus conforming to the requirements of Article 3b of the Treaty;
(7) Whereas, moreover, Article 130r of the Treaty calls for the protection and improvement of the environment and the prudent and rational utilization of natural resources, these two objectives being among those of the Community policy on the environment; whereas electricity generation and consumption account for 30 % of man-made carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and some 35 % of primary energy consumption in the Community; whereas these percentages are increasing;
(8) Whereas, furthermore, Council Decision 89/364/EEC of 5 June 1989 on a Community action programme for improving the efficiency of electricity use (5) has as its twin objectives to encourage consumers to favour appliances and equipment with high electrical efficiency and to improve the efficiency of appliances and equipment;
(9) Whereas in its conclusions of 29 October 1990 the Council set an objective of stabilizing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the Community at 1990 levels by the year 2 000; whereas in order to achieve this objective stronger measures are required to stabilize CO2 emissions within the Community;
(10) Whereas Decision 91/565/EEC (6) established a programme to promote energy efficiency in the Community (the SAVE programme);
(11) Whereas the energy efficiency measures incorporated in the most up-to-date models of refrigeration appliances available do not increase their production costs excessively and can pay for their initial cost through electricity savings within a few years or even more rapidly; whereas this calculation does not take into account the added benefit of the external costs of electricity generation thereby avoided, such as emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other pollutants;
(12) Whereas the 'natural` gain in energy efficiency due to market pressures and improved production processes, estimated at around 2 % per year, will contribute to efforts to achieve stricter energy consumption standards;
(13) Whereas Directive 92/75/EEC (7) (the framework Directive) and Commission Directive 94/2/EC (8) (the Directive implementing Directive 92/75/EEC), which require the compulsory labelling of appliances and an indication in other forms of the energy consumption, will increase consumers' awareness of the energy efficiency of household refrigeration appliances; whereas this measure will therefore also encourage the various competitors to offer levels of energy efficiency for their appliances higher than the standards required by this Directive; whereas, however, the provision of information to consumers must nevertheless be accompanied by an indication of the standards in order to achieve full benefit and lead to a real improvement in the total average efficiency of the appliances sold;
(14) Whereas this Directive, which is aimed at eliminating technical barriers with regard to improving the energy efficiency of household refrigeration appliances, must follow the 'new approach` established by the Council resolution of 7 May 1985 on a new approach to technical harmonization and standards (9) which specifically lays down that legislative harmonization is limited to the adoption, by means of directives, of the essential requirements with which products put on the market must conform;
(15) Whereas an effective enforcement system is necessary to ensure that the Directive is implemented properly, guarantee fair conditions of competition for producers and protect consumer rights;
(16) Whereas regard should be had to Council Decision 93/465/EEC of 22 July 1993 concerning the modules for the various phases of the conformity assessment procedures and the rules for the affixing and use of the CE conformity marking (10), which are intended to be used in the technical harmonization directives;
(17) Whereas in the interest of international trade, international standards should be used wherever appropriate; whereas the electricity consumption of a refrigeration appliance is defined by the European Committee for Standardization Standard EN 153 of July 1995 which is based on an international standard;
(18) Whereas household refrigeration appliances complying with the energy efficiency requirements of this Directive must bear the 'CE` marking and associated information, in order to enable them to move freely;
(19) Whereas this Directive is confined to household refrigeration appliances for foodstuffs, supplied by mains electricity, excluding those manufactured on a one-off basis; whereas refrigeration equipment for commercial use is much more varied and not appropriate for inclusion in this Directive,