L 94/16 Official Journal of the European Union 30.3.2012 REGULATION (EU) No 259/2012 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 14 March 2012 amending Regulation (EC) No 648/2004 as regards the use of phosphates and other phosphorus compounds in consumer laundry detergents and consumer automatic dishwasher detergents (Text with EEA relevance) THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 114 thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments, Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee ('), Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure (3), Whereas: (1) In its Report of 4 May 2007 to the Council and the European Parliament, the Commission evaluated, pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 648/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council (%), the use of phosphates in detergents. Following further analysis, it has been concluded that the use of phosphates in consumer laundry detergents and consumer automatic dishwasher detergents should be limited in order to reduce the contribution of phosphates from detergents to eutrophication risks and to reduce the cost of phos- phates removal in waste water treatment plants. Those cost savings outweigh the cost of reformulating consumer laundry detergents with alternatives to phos- phates. Efficient alternatives to phosphate-based consumer laundry detergents require small amounts of other phos- phorus compounds, namely phosphonates which, if used in increasing quantities, might be of concern for the environment. While it is important to encourage the use of alternative substances with a more favourable environmental profile than phosphates and other phos- phorus compounds in the manufacture of consumer laundry detergents and consumer automatic dishwasher () OJ C 132, 3.5.2011, p. 71. (®) Position of the European Parliament of 14 December 2011 (not yet published in the Official Journal) and decision of the Council of 10 February 2012. () O] L 104, 8.4.2004, p. 1. detergents, such substances should, under their normal conditions of use, present no risk, or a lower risk, to humans and/or the environment. The REACH (¥ system should therefore, where appropriate, be used to evaluate such substances. The interaction between phosphates and other phos- phorus compounds requires a careful choice of the scope and level of the limitation on the use of phos- phates in consumer laundry detergents and consumer automatic dishwasher detergents. The limitation should apply not only to phosphates, but also to all phosphorus compounds in order to preclude a mere substitution of other phosphorus compounds for phosphates. The limit on phosphorus content should be low enough to effec- tively prevent the marketing of phosphate-based consumer laundry detergent formulations, while being high enough to allow the minimum quantity of phos- phonates required for alternative formulations. It is currently not appropriate to extend limitations on the use of phosphates and other phosphorus compounds in consumer laundry detergents and consumer automatic dishwasher detergents to industrial and institutional detergents at the level of the Union because suitable technically and economically feasible alternatives to the use of phosphates in those detergents are not yet available. As concerns consumer automatic dishwasher detergents, alternatives are likely to be more widely available in the near future. It is therefore appropriate to provide a restriction on the use of phosphates in those detergents. Such a restriction should apply from a future date by which time alternatives to phosphates are expected to be widely available, in order to stimulate the developments of new products. It is also appropriate to specify a maximum permissible phosphorus content, based on evidence including existing national restrictions for phosphorus in consumer automatic dishwasher deter- gents. However, it is also necessary to provide that the Commission should, before that restriction becomes applicable throughout the Union, carry out a thorough assessment of the limit value based on the most recent available data and, if justified, present a legislative proposal. That assessment should cover the impact on the environment, industry and consumers of consumer automatic dishwasher detergents with phosphorus levels above and below the limit value set out in Annex VIa () Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), establishing a European Chemicals Agency (O] L 396, 30.12.2006, p.- 1).