BETA


Events

2022/05/02
   Indicative plenary sitting date
2022/04/06
   EP - Committee report tabled for plenary, 1st reading
2022/03/31
   EP - Vote in committee, 1st reading
2022/03/09
   EP - Amendments tabled in committee
Documents
2022/02/09
   EP - Committee draft report
Documents
2021/12/15
   EP - HOJSÍK Martin (Renew) appointed as rapporteur in ENVI
2021/12/08
   ESC - Economic and Social Committee: opinion, report
Documents
2021/11/10
   EP - Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading
2021/10/28
   EC - Legislative proposal
Details

PURPOSE: to protect human health and the environment from the adverse effects caused by of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and to eliminate or minimise emissions of POPs from waste.

PROPOSED ACT: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council

ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council.

BACKGROUND: Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 of the European Parliament and of the Council on persistent organic pollutants (POPs Regulation) implements the Union's commitments under the Stockholm Convention on POPs, approved by Council Decision 2006/507/EC, and the Protocol to the 1979 Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution on Persistent Organic Pollutants, approved by Council Decision 2004/259/EC.

All POP substances are recognised to have adverse, generally long-term effects upon living organisms . They persist for a very long time in the environment and in our bodies and can be transported unchanged to almost any remote point of the globe, far away from where they were produced or used.

Management of POP waste, including its recycling where this is possible, should be carried out in an environmentally sound manner, with minimal impact on human health and the environment. It should also minimise the extent to which toxic substances are released into the environment, and thus contribute to the zero-pollution ambition by reducing their environmental and health impact.

CONTENT: the proposal aims to implement, for the substances within its scope, the EU’s international obligations under the Stockholm Convention and, more specifically, those derived from the POPs Regulation. The proposed update brings Annexes IV and V of the Regulation into line with the Stockholm Convention and Annex I of the POPs Regulation by aligning them with the substances listed therein and by introducing concentration limits for these substances.

Taking into account the amendments made to the Stockholm Convention on 15 May 2015 and in order to ensure that waste containing these substances is managed in accordance with the provisions of the Stockholm Convention, the Commission proposes to amend Annexes IV and V of Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 by including pentachlorophenol, dicofol and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), its salts and PFOA-related compounds in the Annexes and indicating their corresponding concentration limits.

It is also proposed to amend the concentration limits set out in Annex IV for the following substances to adapt their limit values to scientific and technical progress: tetrabromodiphenyl ether, pentabromodiphenyl ether, hexabromodiphenyl ether, heptabromodiphenyl ether and decabromodiphenyl ether, hexabromocyclododecane, alkanes C10-C13, chloro (short-chain chlorinated paraffins), polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/PCDF).

Lastly, dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (dioxin-like PCBs) should be included in the existing group entry for Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/PCDF) in Annexes IV and V of the POP Regulation.

The proposal is consistent with the objective of ensuring an optimal balance with the Green Deal for Europe's ambitions to achieve toxic-free material cycles, increasing recycling and circularity and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

2021/10/28
   EC - Document attached to the procedure
2021/10/28
   EC - Document attached to the procedure
2021/10/28
   EC - Document attached to the procedure
Documents
2021/10/28
   EC - Document attached to the procedure

Documents

  • Amendments tabled in committee: PE719.599
  • Committee draft report: PE703.218
  • Economic and Social Committee: opinion, report: CES5605/2021
  • Legislative proposal: EUR-Lex
  • Legislative proposal: COM(2021)0656
  • Document attached to the procedure: EUR-Lex
  • Document attached to the procedure: SEC(2021)0379
  • Document attached to the procedure: EUR-Lex
  • Document attached to the procedure: SWD(2021)0299
  • Document attached to the procedure: SWD(2021)0300
  • Document attached to the procedure: EUR-Lex
  • Document attached to the procedure: SWD(2021)0301
  • Legislative proposal: EUR-Lex COM(2021)0656
  • Document attached to the procedure: EUR-Lex SEC(2021)0379
  • Document attached to the procedure: EUR-Lex SWD(2021)0299
  • Document attached to the procedure: SWD(2021)0300
  • Document attached to the procedure: EUR-Lex SWD(2021)0301
  • Economic and Social Committee: opinion, report: CES5605/2021
  • Committee draft report: PE703.218
  • Amendments tabled in committee: PE719.599

Activities

AmendmentsDossier
43 2021/0340(COD)
2022/03/09 ENVI 43 amendments...
source: 719.599

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)

events/2/summary
  • The Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety adopted the report by Martin HOJSÍK (Renew Europe, SK) on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Annexes IV and V to Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 of the European
  • Parliament and of the Council on persistent organic pollutants.
  • As a reminder, the European Commission has proposed to review the Annexes IV and V of the Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 (POPs Regulation) to ensure their alignment with the international obligations, particularly the Stockholm Convention whose main goal is to protect human health and the environment from persistent organic pollutants. As POPs belong to the most dangerous chemicals in the world and are linked to irreversible impacts on public health and environment, the Stockholm Convention requires Parties to prohibit and/or take the legal and administrative measures necessary to eliminate both the production and use of chemicals listed in Annex A, and the import and export of those chemicals.
  • Perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), its salts and PFHxS-related compounds have been proposed by the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee (POPRC) for listing under Annex A of the Convention without specific exemptions after completing the risk profile and risk management evaluation for those substances.
  • A decision to include PFHxS, its salts and PFHxS-related compounds is envisaged to take place in Stockholm Convention COP-10 , which was initially scheduled in July 2021, and is now scheduled to take place in June 2022.
  • With respect to the objectives of the Convention, it is therefore appropriate to amend Annexes IV and V to Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 by including perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), its salts and PFHxS-related compounds in the Annexes and indicating their corresponding concentration limits.
  • The committee responsible recommended that the European Parliament's position adopted at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure should amend the proposal as follows:
  • The report stressed that in order to prevent mixing of contaminated waste with other waste or materials and to ensure better traceability and effective treatment of waste containing persistent organic pollutants, there is a need to avoid inconsistency between the provisions regarding waste which contains persistent organic pollutants originally set out in Regulation (EC) No 850/2004, now repealed by Regulation (EU) 2019/1021, and those set out thereafter.
  • The Commission should therefore assess whether to recognise that waste containing persistent organic pollutants exceeding the concentration limits specified in Annex IV of Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 should be classified as hazardous and, if appropriate, present a legislative proposal to amend Directive 2009/98/EC on waste or Decision 2014/955/EU, or both, accordingly.
  • Concentration limits
  • The values proposed by Members in the respective Annexes IV (on POPs waste management) should not only allow for a better implementation of the EU's international obligations but will also ensure a better alignment between the POPs Regulation and the objectives of the European Green Deal, in particular the ambitions for a toxic-free environment and a truly circular economy.
  • For the sum of polybrominated diphenyl ethers, Members proposed a limit of 200 mg/kg . The Commission will review this concentration limit and, if appropriate, adopt a legislative proposal to lower this value no later than 5 years after the date of entry into force of the Regulation.
  • For the short-chain chlorinated paraffins, it proposed to limit it to the 420 mg/kg .
  • For the hexabromocyclododecane, Members proposed a limit of 200 mg/kg with a further limitation to 100 in 5 years.
  • For polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/PCDF) and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (dl-PCB), a limit of 1 μg/kg is proposed.
  • Lastly, Members proposed to amend Annexes IV and V of Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 by including perfluorohexane sulphonic acid (PFHxS), its salts and PFHxS-related compounds in the Annexes and indicating their corresponding concentration limits, as the Commission also acknowledges in its impact assessment of this revision that the European Parliament and the Council will have to include these substances as soon as they are listed in the Stockholm Convention in 2022, according to the recommendation issued by the POPs Review Committee in 2019.
events/2
date
2022-04-06T00:00:00
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procedure/stage_reached
Old
Awaiting committee decision
New
Awaiting Parliament's position in 1st reading
events/1
date
2022-03-31T00:00:00
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Vote in committee, 1st reading
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https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/ENVI-AM-719599_EN.html
docs/7/date
Old
2022-03-08T00:00:00
New
2022-03-09T00:00:00
docs/7
date
2022-03-08T00:00:00
docs
title: PE719.599
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Amendments tabled in committee
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forecasts
  • date: 2022-05-02T00:00:00 title: Indicative plenary sitting date
docs/5
date
2021-12-08T00:00:00
docs
title: CES5605/2021
type
Economic and Social Committee: opinion, report
body
ESC
docs/5/date
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2022-02-02T00:00:00
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2022-02-09T00:00:00
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https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/ENVI-PR-703218_EN.html
docs/5
date
2022-02-02T00:00:00
docs
title: PE703.218
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Committee draft report
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  • body: EC dg: Environment commissioner: SINKEVIČIUS Virginijus
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title
EUR-Lex
committees/0/shadows
  • name: ARENA Maria group: Group of Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats abbr: S&D
docs/0/summary
  • PURPOSE: to protect human health and the environment from the adverse effects caused by of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and to eliminate or minimise emissions of POPs from waste.
  • PROPOSED ACT: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council
  • ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council.
  • BACKGROUND: Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 of the European Parliament and of the Council on persistent organic pollutants (POPs Regulation) implements the Union's commitments under the Stockholm Convention on POPs, approved by Council Decision 2006/507/EC, and the Protocol to the 1979 Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution on Persistent Organic Pollutants, approved by Council Decision 2004/259/EC.
  • All POP substances are recognised to have adverse, generally long-term effects upon living organisms . They persist for a very long time in the environment and in our bodies and can be transported unchanged to almost any remote point of the globe, far away from where they were produced or used.
  • Management of POP waste, including its recycling where this is possible, should be carried out in an environmentally sound manner, with minimal impact on human health and the environment. It should also minimise the extent to which toxic substances are released into the environment, and thus contribute to the zero-pollution ambition by reducing their environmental and health impact.
  • CONTENT: the proposal aims to implement, for the substances within its scope, the EU’s international obligations under the Stockholm Convention and, more specifically, those derived from the POPs Regulation. The proposed update brings Annexes IV and V of the Regulation into line with the Stockholm Convention and Annex I of the POPs Regulation by aligning them with the substances listed therein and by introducing concentration limits for these substances.
  • Taking into account the amendments made to the Stockholm Convention on 15 May 2015 and in order to ensure that waste containing these substances is managed in accordance with the provisions of the Stockholm Convention, the Commission proposes to amend Annexes IV and V of Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 by including pentachlorophenol, dicofol and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), its salts and PFOA-related compounds in the Annexes and indicating their corresponding concentration limits.
  • It is also proposed to amend the concentration limits set out in Annex IV for the following substances to adapt their limit values to scientific and technical progress: tetrabromodiphenyl ether, pentabromodiphenyl ether, hexabromodiphenyl ether, heptabromodiphenyl ether and decabromodiphenyl ether, hexabromocyclododecane, alkanes C10-C13, chloro (short-chain chlorinated paraffins), polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/PCDF).
  • Lastly, dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (dioxin-like PCBs) should be included in the existing group entry for Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/PCDF) in Annexes IV and V of the POP Regulation.
  • The proposal is consistent with the objective of ensuring an optimal balance with the Green Deal for Europe's ambitions to achieve toxic-free material cycles, increasing recycling and circularity and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
events
  • date: 2021-11-10T00:00:00 type: Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading body: EP
procedure/dossier_of_the_committee
  • ENVI/9/07538
procedure/stage_reached
Old
Preparatory phase in Parliament
New
Awaiting committee decision