The Commission presents its second report providing an overview of the implementation of Directive 2004/42/EC on the limitation of emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOC) due to the use of organic solvents in certain paints and varnishes and vehicle refinishing products by Member States (‘the Paints Directive). The first report was adopted in 2011.

This report, summarising the main findings of the assessment of information received from Member States, focuses on two facets of implementation of the Paints Directive; namely:

(1) what monitoring programmes have been established to check the requirements of the Paints Directive i.e. actions principally undertaken by Member State competent authorities;

(2) how well Member States comply with the technical requirements of the Paints Directive i.e. the implementing actions taken by the manufacturers, importers, wholesalers and retailers of paints and varnishes.

Monitoring programmes : t he information for 2010, as provided by Member States, demonstrates that the monitoring of compliance with VOC content limits and labelling requirements has progressed, or remained at least at the same level, as in 2007.

Member States have a variety of approaches to monitoring compliance. Although individual Member States showed big variations, the total number of inspections of premises carried out in 2010 across the EU-27 was significant, with some 4 700 inspections for checking the VOC content of products and/or their labelling. Again with big variations at a Member State level, a large number of paint and varnish samples were analysed for VOC content with over 19 000 analyses in the EU-27 in 2010. The number of checks on product labels , either by visual inspection or by other methods, was in the order of 121 000 across the EU-27 in 2010.

Those Member States which reported zero, or very low levels, of monitoring in 2010 cited a number of reasons . Many Member States were hampered by a lack of resources, particularly financial. There were also issues with a shortage of certified laboratory capacity for the analysis of product samples.

VOC limits : the Paints Directive defines two sets of limit values for the maximum content of VOCs in paint products and varnishes (in gram per litre of product that is 'ready for use'). The 'Phase I limit values' applied from 1 January 2007. Stricter, 'Phase II VOC limit values, came into force on 1 January 2010.

For the Phase I VOC limits the overall compliance rate was relatively high at 98.7%. For the stricter Phase II VOC limits the overall compliance rate was, again, relatively high at 97.46%.

Labelling and non-compliant products : out of some 121 000 samples checked for labels in 2010, 94.2% were found to be compliant. The highest rate of non-compliance was amongst importers .

Most non-compliance with both the VOC content limits and, at the same time the labelling requirements, related to category 1.1d products ( 'Interior/exterior trim and cladding paints for wood, metal or plastic ').

The most common sanction taken by Member States in the case of non-compliance with the VOC content limits was withdrawal of products from the market, as required by the Paints Directive.

The report concludes that there appears to be a need for better enforcement of the labelling requirements . Moreover, Member States that are lagging behind are urged to rapidly take the necessary measures to fully implement the obligations regarding monitoring programmes.

The Commission will closely monitor progress on these issues and will continue to assist Member States in further improving their level of performance. Member States are therefore recommended to continue their efforts in targeting monitoring and enforcement where it is most effective and efficient in reducing the placing on the market of non-compliant paint and varnish products.

EUR-Lex
COM(2013)0704

In accordance with the requirements of Directive 2004/42/EC on the limitation of emissions of volatile organic compounds due to the use of organic solvents in certain paints and varnishes and vehicle refinishing products ("the Paints Directive"), the Commission presents a report giving:

a summary of the state of transposition of the Directive; an assessment of the implementation of the Directive in Member States; an analysis of the possibility of further reduction of the volatile organic compounds ("VOC") content limits.

Transposition: w hilst few Member States met the deadline of 30 October 2005, all Member States completed transposition for the whole national territory shortly after that date. The Commission has not identified any major instances of non-conformity of the Member States' transposing legislation.

Implementation: at the time of gathering the data for this report (covering the year 2007), the implementation of the Paints Directive in Member States was still in its very early stages as the VOC limits from Annex I only apply from 1 January 2007. Furthermore, the Directive granted a one year transitional period allowing non-compliant products produced before 1 January 2007 to be placed on the market. The information received so far shows that many Member States have established programmes for monitoring compliance of products placed on the market. However, the Commission has indications that in 2007 several Member States were still behind schedule in setting up their inspection programmes. Adequate monitoring of manufacturers and importers is of particular importance for ensuring compliance with the Directive's VOC limits and labelling obligations.

Improvements to the monitoring programmes and practices are therefore required and Member States will be encouraged to share their experiences and learn from established best practices. It is expected that a more thorough evaluation of Member States’ compliance with the Directive's monitoring obligations will be possible on the basis of the second national implementation reports covering the year 2010 which are due by 30 June 2011.

With regard to compliance, the report notes that several cases of non-compliance were found during the inspections. The number of breaches of the VOC limits was generally below 5% of the cases, while breaches of the labelling requirements were more frequent and often around 20%.

Review of the Paints Directive: with the assistance of external consultants, the Commission performed an assessment on measures that could potentially result in a further reduction of VOC emissions, i.e. the widening of the scope of the Directive and the tightening of its VOC limit values for vehicle refinishing products. It found that even regulating a very wide range of different products would deliver only modest potential emission reductions and this would come with significant implementation problems, as well as with increased administrative burden and costs. In particular, important concerns remain with regard to the uncertain impacts on consumer behaviour and the likely increase of the administrative burden of regulating non-coating products.

Options for scope extension: d uring the review, the environmental, economic and social impacts of 17 options for a possible extension of the scope of the Paints Directive were assessed. One of the products assessed was aerosol for paints and varnishes , which is explicitly mentioned in the Directive. The option of including such paints in the scope of the Directive was found to have a very small VOC reduction potential. Furthermore, this product group comprises a high variety of product types used for different purposes, which would make defining appropriate VOC limits difficult and monitoring complex. Introducing limit values for the VOC content of these products in the Directive would in fact require switching to other coating systems, but the existing alternatives may cause a loss of product performance. A phase out of the aerosols for paints and varnishes was therefore considered to be inappropriate. Amongst the other options considered, the highest potential for VOC reduction (126 kt/y) was expected from introducing a VOC limit value (10%) for deodorants and anti-perspirants . However, this measure was not recommended as it would de facto ban the use of aerosol- and pump-type spray systems and the existing alternatives seem to have limited acceptance from consumers. Further research to allow the development of alternative spraying systems for deodorants is therefore needed before considering this option further. None of the remaining options were estimated to reduce VOC emissions by more than 40 kt/year. For the non-coating products in particular, there is a lack of knowledge on the anticipated market evolution and consumer behaviour to fully assess the potential effects of their inclusion in the scope of the Directive.

Stricter VOC limit values for vehicle refinishing products: Annex II(B) of the Paints Directive sets out the maximum VOC content of vehicle refinishing products. The feasibility and impacts of strengthening the VOC limit values for each of the vehicle refinishing product subcategories have been assessed. The overall conclusion from this assessment was that it would not be appropriate to propose stricter VOC limit values for these coatings: (i) for most of the subcategories it was found not to be feasible to lower the limit values, either because no products with lower VOC content are expected to be available on the market soon or because of a lack of appropriate test methods; (ii) for the topcoats and for the special finishes, the options for optimizing the current requirements were estimated to deliver a VOC reduction of only about 3,5 kt/year while potentially increasing the administrative burden because of more complicated monitoring.

Lastly, the Commission notes that a strengthening of the existing VOC emission reduction measures seems not to be required to achieve the intermediate objectives of the 2005 Thematic Strategy on Air Pollution . This will be further assessed over the coming years as part of the ongoing work related to the review of the Thematic Strategy. Therefore, amending the scope or limit values of the Paints Directive is not justified at this stage.

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COM(2011)0297

Directive 2004/42
OJ L 143 30.04.2004, p. 0087-0096
Corrigendum to final act 32004L0042R(02)
OJ L 173 27.06.2019, p. 0096

T5-0194/2004
OJ C 103 29.04.2004, p. 0029-0131 E

T5-0194/2004

A5-0136/2004

A5-0136/2004

COM(2004)0016
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14780/2/2003
OJ 0 079 30.03.2004, p. 0001-0014 E

14780/2/2003

15554/2003

T5-0411/2003
OJ C 077 26.03.2004, p. 0265-0382 E

T5-0411/2003

Debate in Parliament

A5-0292/2003

A5-0292/2003

CES0750/2003
OJ C 220 16.09.2003, p. 0043-0045

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COM(2002)0750
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COM(2002)0750
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