On 27 May, the European Council of Ministers formally adopted the new EU Directive for
EFRA welcomes the adoption of this revised version of RoHS as an important decision in favour of science-based EU legislation. Annemie Donkers, Chair of EFRA, underlined that “substances addedfor the safety and functionality of electrical and electronic equipment, such as flame retardants used to increase the fire safety of electronics, will continue to be used if proven safe, effective and efficient.” EFRA believes the new text represents an improvement to the existing RoHS Directive, as it provides more clarity and predictability for industry by establishing a methodology to ensure that future restrictions under the Directive shall be coherent with REACH.
Both the EU’s Parliament and Council have decided to support the Commission's proposal not to expand the RoHS Directive’s list of restricted substances and addressed concerns over a discriminatory listing of substances by deleting a proposed list of substances for priority review.
The new RoHS Directive will enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication inthe Official Journal of the European Union.