Brussels, 20/05/2015 (Agence Europe) - MEPs delivered a real slap in the face to the European Commission in Strasbourg on Wednesday 20 May. By a very wide majority (618 votes to 33, with 28 abstentions), they vetoed Commission plans to extend, by means of a delegated act, the use of cadmium in illumination and display lighting applications and in TVs using quantum dots technology (see EUROPE 11313).
Cadmium, a carcinogenic heavy metal, is on the list of substances the use of which is restricted in the EU under the directive on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment (Directive 2011/65/EC). The Commission, justifying its proposal to exempt cadmium from the provisions of the directive until April 2017, argued that this legislation had to be adapted to technical progress and pointed out that cadmium-free quantum dots were not yet technically available. Its arguments failed to convince Parliament.
MEPs noted, on the contrary, alternatives exist and that “a whole line of TVs” using cadmium-free quantum dots technology “has become widely available on the Union market, by well-known major retailers”. They felt, therefore that the main argument put forward by the Commission was “manifestly incorrect”and that its legislative proposal was unjustified.
Furthermore, they noted, products with displays using cadmium quantum dots are either currently unavailable, or are available only in the United States. (Aminata Niang)