Konfliktmineralien: EU-Parlament lehnt Gesetzesentwurf ab

Das EU-Parlament in Straßburg hat gestern einen Gesetzesentwurf zum Thema Konfliktmineralien abgelehnt. Die geplanten Regelungen, die auf dem Ansatz einer Selbst-Zertifizierung beruhten, gingen den EU-Parlamentariern nicht weit genug. Sie fordern eine verpflichtende Zertifizierung für alle Unternehmen, die sogenannte Konfliktmineralien, also Zinn, Tantal, Wolfram und Gold, in die EU importieren. Außerdem sollen die nachgelagerten Industriezweige – potenziell betroffen wären rund 880 000 Unternehmen, die Konfliktmineralien für die Herstellung von Verbrauchsgütern verwenden – spezielle Informationspflichten erfüllen, um so Risiken in der Lieferkette zu ermitteln und ihnen zu begegnen. Mit ihren Forderungen folgen die Abgeordneten dem Beispiel des amerikanischen Dodd-Frank-Act, der seit 2010 in den USA in Kraft ist. Im nächsten Schritt wird nun das EU Parlament in Verhandlungen mit dem Rat gehen, um eine Einigung für eine endgültige Fassung des Gesetzes zu erreichen.

Revival of the French Private Copy Commission activities

More than a year ago, the activities of the Private Copy Commission, discussing and deciding any copyright levy matter in France, were interrupted by the withdrawal of the industry representatives. Regardless of this, all provisions and levy amounts remained in force. On the initiative of the Ministry of Culture this situation is to be terminated now: thorough substantive and organizational preparations including preliminary talks with the Commission members will be completed in June, so that a next meeting date can be set in September. This is deemed necessary, among others, because six previous decisions of the Private Copy Commission had been suspended by court ruling recently. The most recent being decision No 13 in June 2014. As each decision is valid until the release of the next, the basis for past payments is in question. This applies, to emphasise again, only in respect of the past. The Conseil d’État, the French Supreme Court for Administrative Justice, confirmed the latest two decisions of the Private Copy Commission towards the end of November 2014. Thus, the current product lists, tariff calculations and tariff amounts provided by 1cc to its clients remain valid. Concerning the suspension of the above mentioned decisions: Décision n° 7-11, 2007-2008 and n° 13, 2012, it is possible that past levies paid will have to be refunded in some way. This, however, is an open issue and will likely remain for the time being. Due to the currently complicated levy situation in France, there is uncertainty with respect to the current state of affairs: We would like to point out that all daily compliance activities are to be maintained, and that 1cc will keep you updated on all changes to be reflected in the reporting efforts.

REACH: „Once an article, always an article?“

Article 33 of the REACH Regulation requires manufactures and importers of articles containing more than 0.1 percent of an SVHC (Substance of Very High Concern) to pass on this information within the distribution chain. According to Article 7 (2), ECHA has to be notified accordingly. The European Court of Justice (EJC) is currently in the process of clarifying whether the 0.1 percent threshold refers to the entire weight of the article or to each component (legal proceeding C-106/14). Whilst according to the guidance of the EU Commission and ECHA, the 0.1 percent threshold should refer to the entire weight of an article, six EU Member States – Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, France and Sweden – and Norway followed the interpretation according to the rule „once an article, is always an article“. This means that the 0.1 percent threshold should be based on the weight of the single component of an article.

• In the beginning of 2015 the Advocate General of the ECJ has published her opinion on this matter, basically supporting the interpretation of the six EU Member States. Art. 7 (2): The producer of an entire article consisting of component articles produced by other manufacturers is required to notify ECHA if a SVHC is present in the entire article above a concentration of 0.1 percent. However, the importer of an entire article consisting of component articles is required to notify ECHA both if a SVHC is present in the entire article above a concentration of 0.1 percent and if it is present in a component article above a concentration of 0.1 percent.
• Art. 33: The supplier of an entire article consisting of component articles shall be required to provide information within the distribution chain if a SVHC is present in a component article above a concentration of 0.1% and relevant information is available to the supplier.

The final decision of the ECJ is expected in the course of this year.

Cyprus: Transposition of WEEE Recast

With some delay, Cyprus has transposed the WEEE Recast Directive 2012/19/EU into national legislation: The Waste (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Regulation 73/2015 was officially published on March 13, 2015. Based on the new WEEE Regulation, Cyprus has implemented the following: – New producer definition, including direct sales to B2C and B2B end-users – Authorized representative requirement – 0:1 take-back obligation for small EEE for retailers with a sales area for EEE of more than 400m² – Minimum requirements for shipment of used EEE/WEEE – New WEEE categories applicable from August 15, 2018 – New collection target

Handel muss Elektro-Altgeräte kostenlos zurücknehmen

Verbraucher werden zukünftig ihre alten Elektro-Altgeräte wie Laptops, Radios oder Staubsauger kostenlos in Elektrogeschäften zurückgeben können, wenn sie dort ein neues, vergleichbares Gerät kaufen. Kleinere Elektro-Altgeräte dürfen in Zukunft auch ohne Neukauf abgegeben werden. Letztere Regelung wird jedoch nur für größere Händler mit einer Verkaufsfläche von mehr als 400 Quadratmetern gelten, außerdem für größere Online-Händler. Die neuen Rücknahmeverpflichtungen werden durch die Reform des deutschen Elektrogesetzes (ElektroG) geregelt, das Ende dieses Jahres in Kraft treten soll. Damit werden die Änderungen der WEEE Richtlinie 2012/19/EU über Elektro- und Elektronikaltgeräte (WEEE Recast Directive) umgesetzt, die 2012 in Kraft trat. Wie weitere EU-Mitgliedsstaaten auch, ist Deutschland mit der Umsetzung im Verzug, denn diese hätte eigentlich bis zum 14. Februar 2014 erfolgen sollen. Neben den verschärften Rücknahmeverpflichtungen für den Handel, sieht die WEEE-Richtlinie ab nächstem Jahr neue Sammelquoten für Elektroschrott vor, die 2019 nochmals verschärft werden. Die Sammelquote soll dann bei 65 Prozent liegen. Außerdem wird der Anwendungsbereich ab 2018 auf alle Elektro- und Elektronikgeräte erweitert.

Spain: National Transposition of WEEE Recast

Spain was one of the EU member states which were delayed in transposing the EU WEEE Recast: Finally, on last Saturday, February 21, 2015, “Real Decreto 110/2015, sobre residuos de aparatos eléctricos y electrónicos” (Royal Decree 110/2015) was officially published in the Spanish Official Gazette. With this Decree, Spain has finally transposed the WEEE Directive 2012/19/EU into national law. A deeper analysis of the new Spanish Decree will show which are the national specifications and changes. We will provide you soon with more information.

WEEE Recast Directive 2012/19/EU: Some states are still missing

EU Member States have to adopt national laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with the new Directive 2012/19/EU of 4 July 2012 on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE Recast Directive). The deadline for transposition was 14 February 2014. Today, one year after that day, only 20 of the states have adopted the necessary legal provisions. In Belgium only one of the three regions, namely Flanders, has transposed the Recast. Cyprus, Germany, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Spain only have drafts available. In Slovenia not even a draft has been published yet.

Copyright Levies: Cascade of levy system abolishments to be expected?

While some countries around the world have created or expanded on their existing copyright levy systems, another European country has abolished its system as of January 1, 2015: Finland repealed the legal basis of the copyright levies on blank media & recording devices. Instead, the authors will be compensated via a fund paid out of the state budget. After the Finnish levy tariffs have remained unchanged for the last two years, the parliament voted in December to replace the Copyright Levy system by a government fund. From now on, no copyright levies should be paid anymore in Finland. In 2012 the Spanish Government decided to abolish its copyright levy system, establishing and replacing it by a different one, comparable to the Norwegian system, where levies are calculated into the state budget. In Estonia, a similar system is now in the planning phase. Basically, device- and media-based copyright levy systems are a matter of fervent controversies in all countries in which they are implemented. Nevertheless, their abolishment can be considered critical: The question of (the estimated) harm for right holders caused by private copying remains and, with it, the question of its compensation. A state budget being nothing but tax revenue, every author would rely on government aid. In fact, the harm is to be taken into account and, in the absence of a copyright levy system, he will simply be financed from other sources. The authorities will raise their claims elsewhere. Does it have anything to do with the fact that the Spanish authority tried to claim excessive fees for licensing recently? It seems as if the controversy just shifted somewhere else.

WEEE Regulations in UK – Classification of Dual Use Equipment will Change

Following the new WEEE Regulations in UK, beginning with January 1, 2016, any electrical and electronic equipment which can be used by both households as well as business users (‘dual use’) has to be classified as household equipment (B2C). For producers whose electrical and electronic equipment is re-classified as B2C this means: • Producers will have to provide the sales data in accordance with the new classifications beginning with January 1, 2015. This is required in order to calculate the obligations for 2016. • Since the invoicing for the volumes put on the market in 2015 takes place in 2016, producers might have to face an additional B2C financial obligation up from January 2016. • Producers need to change registration with the Environment Agency. This has to be done prior to the data submission for the first quarter of 2015.

Six new SVHCs added to the REACH Candidate List and one entry updated

REACH: Today, six new SVHCs have been added to the REACH Candidate List by ECHA; and one existing entry has been updated. Cadmium fluoride and cadmium sulphate are added to the Candidate List as being “Carcinogenic”, “Mutagenic”, “Toxic for reproduction” and are also identified as being of „Equivalent level of concern based on probable serious effects to human health“ (specifically due to the effects on kidney and bone). Two benzotriazole substances (UV-320 and UV-328) are identified as being “persistent bioaccumulative and toxic and very persistent and very bioaccumulative (PBT/vPvB)”. Two further substances, DOTE and the reaction mass of DOTE and MOTE are identified as being “Toxic for reproduction”. The Member State Committee also unanimously agreed that bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) meets the criteria for identification as an SVHC under Article 57(f) due to its endocrine disrupting properties causing probable serious effects to the environment. As DEHP is already included in the Candidate List based on its toxic for reproduction properties, this entry will be updated to address the additional reason for inclusion. As DEHP is already listed in the Authorisation List (Annex XIV), companies that were initially exempt from the authorisation requirement may, in the future, be subject to authorisation. However, before this could happen, the European Commission would need to amend the corresponding entry for DEHP in the Authorisation List.