Hazardous substances in electrical & electronic equipment

15 Jun 2017 01:03 PM

On 14 June 2017, EU Ambassadors reached an agreement on the Council's negotiating position on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment. The Council is now set to enter into negotiations with the European Parliament.

The proposed directive aims at revising the scope of the Directive 2011/65/EU (RoHS 2). The new proposal specifically addresses problems arising from the "open-source" product group, includes amendments aiming at establishing equal treatment of products covered by the Directive and proposes to exclude a particular product, namely pipe organs.  

The main objective of the amending text is to ensure the possibility of secondary market operations (e.g. reselling, second-hand market) for electrical and electronic equipment that were newly covered by RoHS 2 and the use of spare parts for such equipment if they are put on the market before 22 July 2019.

The European Parliament recently confirmed during the plenary that it is also ready to start negotiations. The first trilogue with a view to reaching an agreement at first reading is scheduled on 21 June. Hopes are high that the negotiations can be finalised at that occasion.

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