Restriction of Hazardous Substances: On the Need for and the Limits of Comitology

Abstract

This article demonstrates the need for and the limits of the so‐called comitology procedure in the area of European waste legislation, using the example of Directive 2002/95/ EC on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment (the RoHS Directive). The RoHS Directive prohibits the use of six hazardous substances in certain electrical and electronic equipment. The Annex to the RoHS Directive, which contains the exemptions from this prohibition, can be amended through the comitology procedure. This procedure is a widely used method in European Community law for the delegation of legislative power from the Council and the European Parliament to the executive branch, i.e. the European Commission. The authors conclude that the use of comitology is indispensable for highly technical issues for which the co‐legislators are lacking the time, as well as the resources, to carry out the adaptation of the legislative acts. However, the Commission needs to handle comitology with care; otherwise it runs the risk that its decisions lack legitimacy.

Looking for Accountability in Institutionally Unchartered Waters: Comitology Committees in Operation and EU Decision-making Structures

“…Being meticulously researched and rigorously argued, the books deserve, and will receive, study by and attention from a wide audience of scholars, students and policy-makers given also that the idea behind the work of comitology is present in almost all modern political systems that developed constitutional and legal rules governing the ways legislative acts should be detailed and implemented, because 'legislative bodies lack both the time and technical knowledge to account for all possibilities when developing a legislative act' (Maxianova and Maxian Rusche 2006). Both contributions manage to reveal the particular, formal and informal, institutional patterns and intricacies in relation to the delegation of powers to the European Commission.…”

The EU Comitology System in Theory and Practice

“…In several instances, the Commission has proposed exemptions which fail to obtain a qualified majority in the comitology committee, and are then referred to the Council, which also fails to master a qualified majority for or against. Decisional power then returns to the Commission, which adopts the exemption (Maxianova and Rusche, 2006) -that is, the same outcome as in the deadlocked situation of GMOs. Several member states have openly protested against this working of comitology.…”

Integrated green‐and‐quality inspection schemes for green product quality with six‐sigma yield assurance and risk management

“…The RoHS directives set limits on the maximum concentration if certain HSs embedded in a product are unavoidable. 34 The HSs' concentration is considered smaller-the-better critical quality characteristics (CQCs). The fewer the HS concentration is in a product, the higher its green performance.…”

“…developed acceptance sampling plans based on PCIs to provide efficient lot‐disposition methods. The RoHS directives set limits on the maximum concentration if certain HSs embedded in a product are unavoidable 34 . The HSs’ concentration is considered smaller‐the‐better critical quality characteristics (CQCs).…”