THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to European Parliament and Council Directive 94/62/EC of 20 December 1994 on packaging and packaging waste(1), and in particular Article 3(1) thereof,
Whereas:
(1) Article 3(1) of Directive 94/62/EC defines ‘packaging’ by setting out a number of criteria. The items listed in Annex I to that Directive are illustrative examples of the application of those criteria.
(2) For reasons of legal certainty and harmonisation of the interpretation of the definition of ‘packaging’, it is necessary to review and amend the list of illustrative examples to clarify additional cases where the borderline between what is packaging and what is not, remains unclear. The review follows calls from the Member States and the economic operators to reinforce the implementation of the Directive and create a level playing field in the internal market.
(3) Directive 94/62/EC should therefore be amended accordingly.
(4) The Committee established by Article 21 of Directive 94/62/EC has not delivered an opinion (on the measures provided for in this Directive) and the Commission therefore submitted to the Council a proposal relating to the measures and forwarded it to the European Parliament. The Council did not act within the two-month period provided for by Article 5a of Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission(2) and the Commission therefore submitted the proposal to the European Parliament without delay. The European Parliament did not oppose the measure within four months from the abovementioned forwarding,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE: