Brussels, 29/09/2003 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has decided to send two reasoned opinions on the basis of Article 226 of the EEC Treaty. The first is to Germany, asking it to amend its regulation on controls for fire extinguishers. The second is to Spain, calling upon it to lift its marketing ban on certain energy drinks and dietary supplements containing guarana and a high percentage of caffeine within the Autonomous Community of Valencia.
As far as Germany is concerned, the Commission considers in a press release that its German regulation - which, according to Germany, is necessary for health protection reasons - unjustifiably prevents the marketing on German territory of fire-extinguishing aerosols originating in other Member States. The Commission considers that the German regulations are disproportionate to the objective they are intended to achieve, and that the objective of providing health protection could equally be attained by means of adequate labelling. The same is true in the case of Spain.
If the authorities do not give a satisfactory response within two months after receiving the reasoned opinion, the Commission may decide to refer the case to the European Court of Justice.