RECOMMENDATION FOR SECOND READING on the Council common position for adopting a European Parliament and Council Directive amending for the twenty-third time Council Directive 76/769/EEC relating to restrictions on the marketing and use of certain dangerous substances and preparations (substances classified as carcinogens, mutagens or substances toxic to reproduction)
(8328/1/2002 – C5‑0267/2002 – 2001/0110(COD))
10 September 2002 - ***II
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy
Rapporteur: Giuseppe Nisticò
PROCEDURAL PAGE
At the sitting of 5 February 2002 Parliament adopted its position at first reading on the proposal for a European Parliament and Council directive amending for the twenty-third time Council Directive 76/769/EEC relating to restrictions on the marketing and use of certain dangerous substances and preparations (substances classified as carcinogens, mutagens or substances toxic to reproduction) (COM(2001) 256 - 2001/0110 (COD)).
At the sitting of 13 June 2002 the President of Parliament announced that the common position had been received and referred to the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy (8328/1/2002 - C5-0267/2002).
The committee had appointed Giuseppe Nisticò rapporteur at its meeting of 29 May 2002.
It considered the common position and draft recommendation for second reading at its meetings of 9 July 2002 and 10 September 2002.
At the last meeting it adopted the draft legislative resolution by 21 votes to 17, with 0 abstentions.
The following were present for the vote: Alexander de Roo (acting chairman), Mauro Nobilia, (vice-chairman), Giuseppe Nisticò (rapporteur), María del Pilar Ayuso González, Hans Blokland, John Bowis, Martin Callanan, Dorette Corbey, Avril Doyle, Jillian Evans (for Hiltrud Breyer), Anne Ferreira, Karl-Heinz Florenz, Cristina García-Orcoyen Tormo, Robert Goodwill, Françoise Grossetête, Heidi Anneli Hautala (for Marie Anne Isler Béguin), Christa Klaß, Eija-Riitta Anneli Korhola, Bernd Lange, Paul A.A.J.G. Lannoye (for Patricia McKenna), Torben Lund, Minerva Melpomeni Malliori, Emilia Franziska Müller, Rosemarie Müller, Neil Parish (for Per-Arne Arvidsson), Frédérique Ries, Dagmar Roth-Behrendt, Guido Sacconi, Karin Scheele, Horst Schnellhardt, Inger Schörling, Jonas Sjöstedt, Renate Sommer (for Raffaele Costa), Catherine Stihler, Astrid Thors, Antonios Trakatellis, Kathleen Van Brempt and Phillip Whitehead.
The recommendation for second reading was tabled on 10 September 2002.
The deadline for tabling amendments will be indicated in the draft agenda for the relevant part-session.
DRAFT LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION
European Parliament legislative resolution on the Council common position for adopting a European Parliament and Council Directive amending for the twenty-third time Council Directive 76/769/EEC relating to restrictions on the marketing and use of certain dangerous substances and preparations (substances classified as carcinogens, mutagens or substances toxic to reproduction) (8328/1/2002 – C5‑0267/2002 – 2001/0110(COD))
(Codecision procedure: second reading)
The European Parliament,
– having regard to the Council common position (8328/1/2002 – C5‑0267/2002),
– having regard to its position at first reading[1] on the Commission proposal to Parliament and the Council (COM(2001) 256[2]),
– having regard to Article 251(2) of the EC Treaty,
– having regard to Rule 80 of its Rules of Procedure,
– having regard to the recommendation for second reading of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy (A5‑0285/2002),
1. Amends the common position as follows;
2. Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council and Commission.
| Council common position | Amendments by Parliament |
| Amendment 1 Recital 3 | |
|
(3) To improve health protection and consumer safety, substances classified as carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic to reproduction and preparations containing them should not be placed on the market for use by the general public. |
(3) To improve health protection and consumer safety, the Commission should extend the ban on substances classified as carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic to reproduction of category 1 or 2 and on preparations to products placed on the market for use by the general public. The Commission should submit a proposal to prohibit the use of such substances in products for use by the general public. |
Justification Partial reinstatement of amendments 1 and 2 adopted at first reading. Substances are defined as individual compounds, and preparations are defined as mixtures or solutions of compounds. Contrary to the demands of the European Parliament, the common position does not address the use of CMR substances in articles or products ( e.g. in toys, textiles, flooring), which however represent a main source of exposure to these chemicals. The Council gives two reasons for its rejection of Parliament’s amendments. Firstly, it states that it would lack a scientific evaluation or a risk assessment. The evaluation that was made for substances and preparations according to the Commission's proposal and which is accepted as a basis for prohibiting their marketing and use by the general public is the following: "Due to the fact that use of chemicals by consumers cannot be controlled, safety can only be ensured by prohibiting use by consumers of CMR substances and preparations". There is no reason why the same assessment should not be valid for the use of c/m/r substances in consumer articles, all the more in that consumers are also and often primarily exposed to these substances via articles containing them. Secondly, it refers to the very high number of CMR substances and the fact that that these were contained in an "indefinite number of products". It is difficult to understand how such an alarming acknowledgement can be used to justify inaction. Precisely because of the indefinite number of products, the only possibility to adequately protect consumers from exposure to CMR substances is to phase out their use in articles as well. Lastly, while the intentions for a new chemicals policy are welcome, it will still take a long time until the new provisions come into force. Actions on CMR substances in consumer articles need, however, to be taken as soon as possible if human health is to be adequately protected. It is therefore crucial that EC legislation on CMR substances is supplemented by a provision that also protects the general public from such substances in products. The Commission should make a proposal in this respect. | |
EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
On 3 June 2002 the Council adopted its common position on the twenty-third amendment of Council Directive 76/769/EEC relating to restrictions on the marketing and use of certain dangerous substances and preparations (c/m/r substances).
At first reading the European Parliament adopted two amendments to the Commission proposal aimed at extending the restrictions envisaged in the Directive to products and requesting the Commission to submit proposals to this effect by 30 June 2002.
These amendments were not taken up by either the Commission or the Council. In fact, both institutions consider that in view of the vast number of c/m/r substances contained in an indefinite number of products, extending the scope of the Directive, as requested by Parliament, would be an enormous undertaking and would require a risk assessment for hundreds of substances. Attention should also be drawn to the substantial changes - not least in order to pursue the aims of the amendments adopted by Parliament - which will be made as a result of the new strategy for chemical products, for which legislative proposals are being drawn up and will be adopted during 2002.
Your rapporteur accepts the justifications proposed by the Commission and the Council and recommends that the common position be approved without amendments. However, he considers that the issue of c/m/r substances contained in products consumed by the general public should be examined as soon as possible and calls on the Commission to consider the problem when drawing up legislative proposals on chemical products.
However, this recommendation was not accepted by the Committee on the Environment, which has partially retabled the amendments adopted at first reading.