THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Directive 94/62/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 1994 on packaging and packaging waste(1), and in particular Article 12(3) thereof,
Whereas:
(1) The formats established in Commission Decision 97/138/EC(2), for the provision of harmonised data within the framework of Directive 94/62/EC, should be revised and simplified in order to take into account the experience with their application.
(2) Those formats should reflect the targets laid down in Directive 94/62/EC, as amended by Directive 2004/12/EC.
(3) In order to guarantee the comparability of data between the Member States, it is appropriate to lay down detailed rules concerning the data to be contained in the formats and to allow Member States to provide further data on a voluntary basis.
(4) In view of the number of amendments that must therefore be made to Decision 97/138/EC, that Decision should be replaced for the sake of clarity.
(5) The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee established pursuant to Article 21 of Directive 94/62/EC,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
OJ L 365, 31.12.1994, p. 10. Directive as last amended by Directive 2004/12/EC (OJ L 47, 18.2.2004, p. 26).