Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the 'Proposal for a European Parliament and Council Directive amending for the 18th time Directive 76/769/EEC on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States relating to restrictions on the marketing and use of certain dangerous substances and preparations'
10. 7. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 214/73 Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the ‘Proposal for a European Parliament and Council Directive amending for the 18th time Directive 76/769/EEC on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States relating to restrictions on the marketing and use of certain dangerous substances and preparations’ (1) (98/C 214/20) On 26 January 1998 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under Article 100a of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned proposal. At its 354th plenary session (meeting of 29 April 1998), the Committee decided to appoint Mr Green as rapporteur-general and adopted the following opinion by 83 votes with two abstentions. 1. Background Commission Directive 96/54/EC (2) (22nd Adap- 1. 1. tation to Technical Progress/ATP) introduced 16 new c/m/r substances (i. e. substances that are carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic to reproduction) to Annex I of Directive 67/548/EEC (3) (‘Dangerous Substances’ Direc- tive). 1. 2. The review of information on the new classifi- cation of c/m/r substances was undertaken by the Technical Progress Committee (TPC) working party on classification and labelling of dangerous substances and preparations. Relevant industries attended the meetings of the TPC working party and assisted it in the review of the available information on these substances. Directive 94/60/EC (4), the 14th amendment to 1. 3. Directive 76/769/EEC (5) relating to restrictions on marketing and use of certain dangerous substances and preparation, requires that substances classified as c/m/r should be prohibited for sale to the general public. 2. The proposal 2. 1. The proposed 18th amendment merely intro- duces those substances classified in the 22nd ATP of Directive 67/548/EEC as carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic to reproduction into the Appendix of Directive 76/769/EEC, thereby prohibiting their sale to the general public. 2. 2. The industries responsible for producing the c/m/r substances included in the proposed 18th amend- ment have been consulted and have confirmed that they (1) OJ C 59, 25. 2. 1998, p. 5. (2) OJ L 248, 30. 9. 1996. (3) OJ L 196, 16. 8. 1967. (4) OJ L 365, 31. 12. 1994. (5) OJ L 262, 27. 9. 1976. do not oppose the inclusion of such substances. This is because the c/m/r substances under consideration are not sold to the general public. 2. 3. To protect the health of workers in their work- place, the requirements of the Carcinogens Directive (90/394/EEC) (6) apply to the newly classified c/m/r substances. 3. General comments The Economic and Social Committee approves 3. 1. the Commission proposal to amend for the 18th time Directive 76/769/EEC. The Committee especially welcomes the steps 3. 2. being proposed by the Commission at EU community level to protect consumers from exposure to c/m/r substances. These measures are complementary to those already existing with regard to the protection of workers from carcinogenic substances as provided for in the above-mentioned Carcinogens Directive, full implementation of which is considered essential by the Committee. the The Committee recognizes the importance of 3. 3. restricting the marketing and use of c/m/r substances in order to protect the health of the general public and notes that some time has elapsed since the publication of the 22nd adaptation. 3. 3. 1. In this context, the Committee considers that it would be better if the restriction on the sale of such substances would follow automatically after their the requirements of Directive classification under 67/548/EEC, as it already stated in its Opinion on the 17th amendment to Council Directive 76/769/EEC (7). 3. 3. 2. In this case, it notes again that the use of a committee procedure would help to speed up the process of implementing a restriction on the marketing and use of c/m/r substances, although there would have to (6) OJ L 196, 26. 7. 1990. (7) OJ C 133, 28. 4. 1997. C 214/74 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 10. 7. 98 be prior consultation of the various socio-economic partners and interests involved. It is noted that none of the newly classified c/m/r 3. 4. substances are sold to the general public. Brussels, 29 April 1998. The President of the Economic and Social Committee Tom JENKINS Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the ‘Proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) establishing common rules and procedures to apply to shipments to certain non-OECD countries of certain types of waste’ (98/C 214/21) On 31 March 1998 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, in accordance with Article 130s of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned proposal. At its 354th plenary session (meeting of 29 April 1998), the Economic and Social Committee appointed Mr Gafo Ferna´ndez as rapporteur-general and adopted the following opinion by 74 votes, with one abstention. 1. Introduction 1. 1. This proposal dates back to 1994 and the referral to the ESC stems from the broadening of the legal basis initially proposed by the European Commission to include both Article 130s and Article 113 (the original legal basis for the regulation). The time which has elapsed since the draft 1. 2. regulation was originally submitted bears witness to difficulties in adopting the proposal, but it also means that the circumstances justifying the submission of the proposal have changed substantially. 1. 3. The Economic and Social Committee has already issued an opinion (1) on another draft regulation, Regu- lation No 259/93, which sought to prepare a common position on amending the Basel Convention in relation to the blanket ban on exports of ‘amber’ and ‘red’ list waste to non-OECD (2) countries. The comments made by the ESC at the time, particularly in relation to the need to distinguish between non-dangerous and dangerous waste and the need to authorize the restricted export of ‘green’ list waste for recycling, are still valid. 1. 4. Consequently, the ESC will simply comment on those aspects of the current regulation not covered by Council Regulation 259/93. 2. General comments regulations in the future, 2. 1. Leaving aside the legal nature of the discussion on the appropriate legal basis for the regulation and the Committee similar acknowledges that Article 113 is the main legal basis, although it takes the view that Article 130s should also be included This would highlight the environmental dimension, the main reason for the proposal, which is designed to counterbalance the strictly commercial aspects of waste shipment. Using Article 113 would also enable other Community institutions such as the European Parliament and the ESC itself to contribute to the discussion, improvement and final adoption of the proposal. (1) OJ C 18, 22. 1. 1996. (2) Organization for Economic Cooperation and Develop- ment. 2. 2. The Committee considers that it is up to countries asked to receive shipments of ‘green’ list waste for recycling and upgrading to decide whether or not they