EVALUATION ROADMAP

Roadmaps aim to inform citizens and stakeholders about the Commission's work to allow them to provide feedback and to participate effectively in future consultation activities. Citizens and stakeholders are in particular invited to provide views on the Commission's understanding of the problem and possible solutions and to share any relevant information that they may have.

Title of the evaluation

Hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment - evaluation of restrictions

Lead DG – responsible unit

DG ENV.B3 Waste Management & Secondary Materials

Indicative Planning

(planned start date and completion date)

Start Q3 2018

Complete Q4 2020

Additional Information

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/rohs_eee/index_en.htm

The Roadmap is provided for information purposes only. It does not prejudge the final decision of the Commission on whether this initiative will be pursued or on its final content. All elements of the initiative described by the document, including its timing, are subject to change.

A. Context, Purpose and Scope of the evaluation

Context

EU legislation restricting the use of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment has been in place since February 2003. It complements EU rules regarding end-of-life electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) and addresses the waste management challenges stemming from the use of hazardous substances in such equipment. In 2011, the existing rules on hazardous substances in EEE were revised, leading to adoption of Directive 2011/65/EU on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment (RoHS), with the objective to enable environmentally sound waste treatment of EEE, and so to contribute to the protection of human health and the environment. Moreover, the functioning of the Internal Market should be ensured by avoiding distortion of competition that might arise from differing product requirements among the Member States. In November 2017, the rules were amended to further strengthen circular economy.

Currently, the rules restrict the use of lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) in EEE. From July 2019, the use of four phthalates will also be restricted.

By July 2021, the Commission shall evaluate the Directive and report on its results to the European Parliament and the Council. The evaluation will take place against the background of other relevant Commission initiatives related to circular economy, including concerning the interface between chemical, product and waste legislation. 

Purpose and Scope

The purpose of this evaluation is to assess the performance of the RoHS Directive since its entry into force in 2011, and where necessary will look back further to its predecessor legislation. It will evaluate the delivery of its objectives of (i) protecting human health and the environment, including the environmentally sound recovery and disposal of waste electrical and electronic equipment, and (ii) of guaranteeing the functioning of the internal market. It will also identify whether regulatory simplifications or improvements to the legislation could be possible.

In terms of the geographical scope, the evaluation will focus on the EU, taking into account aspects related to the global trade in EEE, as obligations apply to both EU and non-EU economic operators whose equipment are placed on the EU market.

The evaluation will assess (with example questions):

-Effectiveness (e.g. To what extent have the RoHS objectives been achieved?)

-Efficiency (e.g. To what extent are the costs justified, given the benefits RoHS has delivered?; How efficient has the exemption system from substance restrictions been?)

-Relevance (e.g. To what extent do the objectives of RoHS correspond to the needs of the EU?; Has RoHS been flexible enough to respond to new issues?)

-Coherence (e.g. To what extent is RoHS coherent with other EU environmental policy objectives, in particular relating to circular economy policy, covering waste management (e.g. Waste Framework Directive), the use of chemicals (e.g. REACH Regulation) as well as product design (e.g. Ecodesign)?)

-EU added value (e.g. What is the added value resulting from RoHS compared to what is likely to have been achieved by the Member States in its absence?)

B. Better Regulation

Consultation of citizens and stakeholders

The objective of the consultation is to collect views, experience and concrete examples from stakeholders that will illustrate particular opportunities, challenges and impacts resulting from the implementation of the RoHS Directive. The stakeholders identified are competent authorities in all EU Member States and EEA-EFTA countries; industry and its representative organisations involved in the EEE sector, including SMEs: manufacturers, importers, and distributors and other economic operators; civil society including consumers, academia and the general public.

Both public and targeted consultations will be carried out in this evaluation (non-exhaustive list):

·A public consultation is planned starting in spring 2019 and will be accessible on the Commission’s website Have your Say for at least 12 weeks in English, French and German. Replies can be made in any of the 24 official EU languages. 

·Targeted interviews with Member States’ authorities and with key stakeholders will equally be undertaken.

·A stakeholder conference in Q4 2019 will discuss conclusions emerging from the evaluation, lessons learned and potential policy options for the future.

Consultation activities will be promoted by announcements on the Commission RoHS website as well as informing Member States and other stakeholders concerned with the RoHS Directive.

A synopsis report, summarizing the results of all consultation activities will be published on the Commission RoHS website once all consultation activities are closed.

Data collection and methodology

The evaluation will take into account previous studies and impact assessments conducted during the review of existing EU rules on hazardous substances in EEE in 2008-2011 and in 2017 available here: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/rohs_eee/index_en.htm.

In addition, several Fitness Check and related studies on chemicals legislation will be taken into account to the extent relevant to the Directive:

Communication on the implementation of the circular economy package: options to address the interface between chemical, product and waste legislation: https://ec.europa.eu/docsroom/documents/27321 

Commission General Report on the operation of REACH and review of certain elements: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=COM:2018:116:FIN (

Study on the regulatory fitness of the legislative framework governing the risk management of chemicals (excluding REACH), in particular the CLP Regulation and related legislation: http://ec.europa.eu/DocsRoom/documents/22063/attachments/3/translations/

Cumulative Cost Assessment for the EU Chemical Industry - Final Report: http://ec.europa.eu/DocsRoom/documents/17784/attachments/1/translations/

Study on the cumulative health and environmental benefits of chemical legislation: https://publications.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/b43d720c-9db0-11e7-b92d-01aa75ed71a1/language-en 

Non-toxic environment strategy: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/chemicals/non-toxic/index_en.htm

Study supporting the Fitness Check on the most relevant chemicals legislation ("Fitness Check +"): https://publications.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/07ad8b92-dbca-11e7-a506-01aa75ed71a1/language-en/format-PDF

The evaluation will be carried out in consultation among relevant Commission services, and with Member States authorities. Throughout the evaluation process, qualitative and quantitative indicators will be used to empirically assess the evaluation questions and more generally to quantify the effect of the Directive's provisions.

An external study will support the evaluation.