PURPOSE: to approve, on behalf of the European Union,
the Amendments to the 1998 Protocol to the 1979 Convention on
Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution on Persistent Organic
Pollutants.
PROPOSED ACT: Council Decision.
ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: Council may adopt the
act only if Parliament has given its consent to the
act.
BACKGROUND: the Union is a Party to the UNECE
Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution following its
approval in 1981. The Convention is the main international
legal framework for cooperation and measures to limit and gradually
reduce and prevent air pollution and its adverse effects upon human
health and the environment in the UNECE region.
To date, the Convention has been extended by eight
Protocols, including the 1998 Aarhus Protocol on Persistent
Organic Pollutants which aims to control, reduce or eliminate
discharges, emissions and losses of persistent organic pollutants
(POPs). The Union is a Party to the 1998 Protocol following its
approval on 19 February 2004.
The Parties present at the 27th session of the
Executive Body of the UNECE Convention on Long-Range Transboundary
Air Pollution adopted by consensus Decisions 2009/1, 2009/2,
2009/3 and 2009/4 amending the Protocol to the Convention on
Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution on Persistent Organic
Pollutants.
Decision 2009/3 entered into force and has become
effective. Decision 2009/4, as a Decision aimed at adopting a
guidance document on best available techniques to control emissions
of persistent organic pollutants, does not require ratification. On
the other hand, Decisions 2009/1 and 2009/2 require ratification by
the Parties to the Protocol.
CONTENT: the Commission proposes that the Council
approve, on behalf of the European Union, the amendments to the
Protocol to the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air
Pollution on Persistent Organic Pollutants.
In particular, Decisions 2009/1 and 2009/2,
which amend the text of the Protocol and its Annexes have to be
ratified by the Parties. The amended Protocol includes:
- new substances (hexachlorobutadiene, tetra-, penta-,
hexa- and heptabromodiphenyl ethers, pentachlorobenzene,
perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), polychlorinated naphthalenes and
short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCP)),
- updates the implementation requirements applicable to
DDT, heptachlor, hexachlorobenzene and polychlorinated biphenyls
(PCBs) and the emission limit values (ELVs) applicable to PCDD/PCDF
emissions from certain waste incinerators,
- establishes new ELVs for PCDD/PCDF emissions from
sinterplants and electric arc furnaces,
- adds PCBs to the list of substances the annual
emissions of which must remain below the emission level of the
reference year and must be reported.
The amended Protocol provides also some flexibility
for Parties with an economy in transition that accede to the
amended Protocol regarding the timeframes for the application of
the ELVs and of the best available techniques (BAT) and the choice
of the reference year as the basis upon which Parties must reduce
their total annual emissions of PCDD/PCDF, PAHs, hexachlorobenzene
(HCB) and PCBs.