Restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment: scope of the Directive

The Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety adopted the report by Adina-Ioana VĂLEAN (EPP, RO) on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2011/65/EU on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment.

As a reminder, the Commission’s proposal amends the scope of Directive 2011/65/EU on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment (or RoHS 2). The scope review aims to tackle ‘unintended side-effects’ of the Directive that would arise after 22 July 2019.

The parliamentary committee recommended that the European Parliament’s position adopted at first reading, following the ordinary legislative procedure, should amend the Commission proposal as follows:

Assessment of existing equipment: to support the wide idea of circular economy, Members proposed using retrofit as a process for assessing the condition of existing equipment in order to decide, which components need to be replaced, which ones need to be repaired or modified and which ones can be reused, all based also on the future requirements of the equipment owner/user.

Adaptation of the Annexes to scientific and technical progress: Members stressed that an individual delegated act may cover a limited number of technically-related or interdependent measures.

Exemptions: for the sake of better regulation and legal predictability, the report introduced a requirement for the Commission to provide to the applicant, the Member States and the European Parliament a clear timeline for the adoption of its decision, within one month after receipt of an application for an exemption.  

Review: Members stated that the next general review of this Directive shall be accompanied by a legislative proposal.