Brussels, 11/06/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 11 June in Luxembourg, environment ministers from EU member states took note (without entering the political debate) of the progress made at a level of experts on the proposal for a regulation concerning the placing on the market and use of biocidal products (the Council debated this dossier last December). The European Commission is hoping that the Council of Ministers will reach a position on this regulation before the end of 2010.
The European commissioner for the environment, Janez Potoènik, noted that “particular progress” had been made on the need to: - set up a centralised Union authorisation procedure for certain biocidal products; - put in place accurate and effective procedures for the mutual recognition of national authorisations. The commissioner acknowledged the existence of divergent views with regard to application of this authorisation system and role of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA). With regard to the field of application, the majority of delegations appear to prefer that specific products are included in it, such as protection products used inside containers or fluids for transforming metal.
The Netherlands was the only country that made a contribution in this session to express its doubts with regard to possibilities for setting up a centralised Union authorisation procedure for certain biocidal products.
Waste from electric and electronic equipment. The Spanish Presidency welcomed the significant progress made on this package containing the two proposals: the proposal for a directive on limiting the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment (recast); - the proposal for a directive from the European Parliament and the Council on waste from electric and electronic equipment (WEEE) (recast). Elena Espinosa Mangana, the Spanish minister for the environment, said that she hoped that there would be an agreement at the Council during the Belgian Presidency (July to December 2010). The EP position in the first reading is not expected before July.
On 21 October 2009, the Council held an orientation debate on these texts, followed by discussions at an “environment” experts' group level. The key questions still pending are: - 1) The field of application for the directive. In the context of the WEEE's field of application, eleven delegations prefer to have an open scope, covering waste from all EEEs and consider that the annexes should not play a role in defining the scope. Thirteen delegations do not support an open scope and prefer the presidency compromise on this point, while the Commission maintains its proposal, which defines the scope via a cross-reference to the annexes of the RoHS Recast proposal (limited use of certain hazardous substances in electric and electronic equipment). With regard to the exclusions, the presidency has proposed new wording, correlated by definitions, in order to accommodate requests of delegations notably in relation to large-scale stationary industrial tools and large scale fixed industrial installations. While these proposals are generally welcomed, their precise wording is still being discussed, as well as additional suggestions for exclusions notably in relation to means of transport and photovoltaic panels.
The Commission maintains its proposals and considers that the means of transport and photovoltaic panels at present are excluded from the scope of the directive because they do not figure in the categories of EEE listed in the annex defining the scope; - 2) Separate collection target. The proposal targets a separate collection of WEEE set at 65% (total weight of WEEE collected in a given year expressed as a percentage of the average weight of EEE placed on the market on the three preceding years) to be achieved annually from 2016, is questioned by most of the delegations. In particular, fourteen delegations considered that the collection target is too ambitious and not realistic enough.
The other subjects posing problems are the role and definition of the producer (financial responsibility and ownership of the waste, a register of producers). (L.C./transl.fl)