Background

Following the requirements of Article 4(2)(a) of Directive 2000/53/EC on end-of-life vehicles, Member States of the European Union have to ensure that materials and components of vehicles put on the market since 1 July 2003 do not contain lead, mercury, hexavalent chromium and cadmium. A limited number of applications exempted from the provision of this article are listed in Annex II to the Directive as well as the scope and the expiry date of the exemption and the labelling requirement according to Article 4(2)(b)(iv) (if applicable).

Some entries of Annex II include a mandatory review date and accordingly studies for reviewing the furthe justification of such exemptions are launched from time to time. In some cases, a review may be triggered for other reasons, such as for example alighnment with other Community legislation (e.g., Directive 2011/65/EU (RoHS)).

Against this background the Commission has contracted Oeko-Institut e.V. and Fraunhofer IZM for the review of exemptions, concerning a possible renewal. Furthermore, a consultation with stakeholders on the review shall be carried out and – if necessary – the suggestion for a final wording for the exemption shall be provided with a view to be included in a draft Commission Decision amending Annex II to Directive 2000/53/EC.

For details as to the current evaluation projects, please see the Project Overview page. Concerning the current projects, a stakeholder consultation is planned as part of the project. Where necessary, stakeholder workshops may be held. If applicable, details on the scope, addressed stakeholders and organization participating in the stakeholder consultation and contributing information relevant for the review of exemptions shall be published on the project website. For details, please study Project Description and Technical Specifications.

The overall project is managed by Yifaat Baron. At Fraunhofer, Otmar Deubzer is the main contact person. The primary contact address for stakeholders is the project-specific e-mail account elv(at)oeko.de. Stakeholders can register on this website in order to be regularly informed about project progress (cf. Registration).