Considerations on COM(2020)798 - Batteries and waste batteries - Main contents
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This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2020)798 - Batteries and waste batteries. |
|---|---|
| document | COM(2020)798  |
| date | July 12, 2023 |
| (2) | Batteries are thus an important source of energy and one of the key enablers for sustainable development, green mobility, clean energy and climate neutrality. It is expected that the demand for batteries will grow rapidly in the coming years, notably for electric road transport vehicles and light means of transport using batteries for traction, making the market for batteries an increasingly strategic one at the global level. Significant scientific and technical progress in the field of battery technology will continue. In view of the strategic importance of batteries, to provide legal certainty to all operators involved and to avoid discrimination, barriers to trade and distortions on the market for batteries, it is necessary to set out rules on the sustainability, performance, safety, collection, recycling and second life of batteries as well as on information about batteries for end-users and economic operators. It is necessary to create a harmonised regulatory framework for dealing with the entire life cycle of batteries that are placed on the market in the Union. |
| (3) | It is also necessary to update Union law on the management of waste batteries and to take measures to protect the environment and human health by preventing or reducing the adverse impacts of the generation and management of waste, by reducing the impact of resource use and by improving resource efficiency. Such measures are crucial for the transition to a circular and climate-neutral economy and toxic-free environment, and for the Union’s long-term competitiveness and strategic autonomy. They can create important economic opportunities, increasing synergies between the circular economy and energy, climate, transport, industry and research policies, and protecting the environment and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. |
| (4) | Directive 2006/66/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (3) has brought about an improvement in the environmental performance of batteries and established some common rules and obligations for economic operators, in particular through harmonised rules for the heavy metal content and labelling of batteries and rules and targets for the management of all waste batteries, based on extended producer responsibility. |
| (5) | The Commission’s reports on the implementation, impact and evaluation of Directive 2006/66/EC submitted in 2019 highlighted not only the achievements but also the limitations of that Directive, in particular against a fundamentally changed context characterised by the strategic importance of batteries and their increased use. |
| (6) | The Communication of the Commission of 17 May 2018 on ‘Europe on the move – Sustainable Mobility for Europe: safe, connected and clean’ includes the Strategic Action Plan on Batteries. That action plan sets out measures to support efforts to build a battery value chain in Europe, covering raw materials extraction, sustainable sourcing and processing, sustainable battery materials, cell manufacturing as well as re-use and recycling of batteries. |
| (7) | In the European Green Deal, the Commission confirmed its commitment to implement the Strategic Action Plan on Batteries and stated that it would propose legislation to ensure a safe, circular and sustainable battery value chain for all batteries, including to supply the growing market of electric vehicles. |
| (8) | In its conclusions of 4 October 2019 on ‘More circularity – Transition to a sustainable society’, the Council called, inter alia, for coherent policies supporting the development of technologies that improve the sustainability and circularity of batteries to accompany the transition to electro-mobility. Furthermore, the Council called for an urgent revision of Directive 2006/66/EC, which should include all relevant battery materials and which should consider, in particular, specific requirements for lithium and cobalt as well as a mechanism allowing the adaptation of that Directive to future changes in battery technologies. |
| (9) | The Communication of the Commission of 11 March 2020 on ‘A new Circular Economy Action Plan – For a cleaner and more competitive Europe’ states that the proposal for a new regulatory framework for batteries will consider rules on recycled content and measures to improve the collection and recycling rates of all batteries, in order to ensure the recovery of valuable materials and to provide guidance to consumers and will address the possible phasing out of non-rechargeable batteries where alternatives exist. Furthermore, it is stated that sustainability and transparency requirements will be considered, taking into account the carbon footprint of battery manufacturing, the ethical sourcing of raw materials and the security of supply in order to facilitate re-use, repurposing and recycling of batteries. |
| (10) | Addressing the entire life cycle of all batteries placed on the Union market requires the setting up of harmonised product and marketing requirements, including conformity assessment procedures, as well as requirements to fully address the end-of-life stage of batteries. Requirements concerning the end-of-life stage are necessary to address the environmental implications of the batteries and, in particular, to support the creation of recycling markets for batteries and markets for secondary raw materials from waste batteries. In order to reach the envisaged objectives of addressing the whole life cycle of a battery in one legal instrument while avoiding barriers to trade and a distortion of competition and safeguarding the integrity of the internal market, the rules setting out the requirements for batteries should be of uniform application for all economic operators across the Union and not leave room for divergent implementation by Member States. Directive 2006/66/EC should therefore be replaced by a Regulation. |
| (11) | This Regulation should apply to all categories of batteries placed on the market or put into service within the Union, regardless of whether they were produced in the Union or imported. It should apply regardless of whether a battery is incorporated into appliances, light means of transport or other vehicles or otherwise added to products or whether a battery is placed on the market or put into service within the Union on its own. This Regulation should apply regardless of whether a battery is specifically designed for a product or is of general use and regardless of whether it is incorporated into a product or is supplied together with or separately from a product in which it is to be used. Placing on the market is considered to take place when the battery has been made available for the first time on the Union market, by being supplied by the manufacturer or importer for distribution, consumption or use in the course of a commercial activity, whether in return for payment or free of charge. Thus, batteries placed in stock in the Union by distributors, including retailers, wholesalers and sales divisions of manufacturers, before the date of application of relevant requirements of this Regulation do not need to meet those requirements. |
| (12) | This Regulation should prevent and reduce adverse impacts of batteries on the environment and ensure a safe and sustainable battery value chain for all batteries, taking into account, for instance, the carbon footprint of battery manufacturing, ethical sourcing of raw materials and security of supply, and facilitating re-use, repurposing and recycling. It should seek to improve the environmental performance of batteries and of the activities of all operators involved in the life cycle of batteries, such as producers, distributors and end-users and, in particular, those operators directly involved in the treatment and recycling of waste batteries. Such measures will help to ensure the transition to a circular economy and the long-term competitiveness of the Union and should contribute to the efficient functioning of the internal market, while taking into account a high level of protection of the environment. This Regulation should also aim to prevent and reduce the adverse impacts of the generation and management of waste batteries on human health and the environment and it should aim to reduce the use of resources and favour the practical application of the waste hierarchy. Thus, to prevent divergences hampering the free circulation of batteries, by laying down uniform obligations and requirements throughout the internal market, Article 114 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) is the appropriate legal basis for this Regulation. To the extent that this Regulation contains specific rules on the management of waste batteries, the appropriate legal basis, in so far as those specific rules are concerned, is Article 192(1) TFEU. |
| (13) | Products placed on the market as battery packs, which are batteries or groups of cells that are connected or encapsulated within an outer casing to form a complete unit ready for use by end-users or in applications that the end-user is not intended to split up or open and which conform to the definition of batteries, or battery cells that conform to the definition of batteries, should be subject to requirements applicable to batteries. |
| (14) | Batteries that can be made ready for use by the end-user with commonly available tools by using a ‘Do It Yourself’ kit, should be considered to be batteries for the purposes of this Regulation. The economic operator placing such kits on the market should be subject to this Regulation. |
| (15) | Within the broad scope of this Regulation, it is appropriate to distinguish between different categories of batteries in accordance with their design and use, independently of their battery chemistry. The classification into portable batteries, on the one hand, and industrial batteries and automotive batteries on the other hand under Directive 2006/66/EC should be further developed to better reflect new developments in the use of batteries. Batteries that are used for traction in electric vehicles and which, under Directive 2006/66/EC, fall under the category of industrial batteries, constitute a large and growing part of the market due to the quick growth of electric road transport vehicles. It is therefore appropriate to classify those batteries that are used for traction in road vehicles as a new separate category of electric vehicle batteries. Batteries used for traction in light means of transport, such as e-bikes and e-scooters, were not classified as a separate category of battery under Directive 2006/66/EC. However, such batteries constitute a significant part of the market due to their growing use in urban sustainable mobility. It is therefore appropriate to classify those batteries as a new separate category of batteries, namely light means of transport batteries (LMT batteries). Batteries used for traction in other transport vehicles including rail, waterborne and aviation transport or off-road machinery, continue to fall under the category of industrial batteries under this Regulation. The industrial battery category encompasses a broad group of batteries, intended to be used for industrial activities, communication infrastructure, agricultural activities, or generation and distribution of electric energy. Batteries which are given industrial uses after being subject to preparation for repurposing or repurposing, even though they were initially designed for a different use, should be considered to be industrial batteries under this Regulation. In addition to this non exhaustive list of examples, any battery that weighs more than 5 kg that does not fall under any other categories under this Regulation should be considered to be an industrial battery. Batteries used for energy storage in private or domestic environments, should be considered to be industrial batteries for the purposes of this Regulation. Batteries used for traction in wheeled vehicles considered to be toys within the meaning of Directive 2009/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (4), should, for the purposes of this Regulation, not be considered to be LMT batteries, but to be portable batteries. |
| (16) | After being placed on the market or put into service within the Union for the first time, a battery can be subject to re-use, repurposing, remanufacturing, preparation for re-use or preparation for repurposing. For the purposes of this Regulation, in accordance with the Union framework on product regulation, a used battery, meaning a battery that has been subject to re-use, is considered to have already been placed on the market when it was first made available on the market for use or distribution. Conversely, batteries that have been subject to preparation for re-use, preparation for repurposing, repurposing or remanufacturing, are considered to be placed on the market anew and should therefore comply with this Regulation. In addition, in accordance with the Union framework on product regulation, a used battery that has been imported from a third country is considered to be placed on the market when it enters the Union for the first time. Therefore, a battery that has been subject to re-use, repurposing, remanufacturing, preparation for re-use or preparation for repurposing and that has been imported from a third country should comply with this Regulation. |
| (17) | Remanufacturing covers a wide range of technical operations that can be carried out on batteries or on waste batteries. As regards waste batteries, remanufacturing can be considered to be preparation for re-use or preparation for repurposing. For that reason, it is not necessary to provide in this Regulation a specific regime for the remanufacturing of waste batteries that is different from the regime on preparation for re-use or preparation for repurposing of waste batteries. As regards used batteries, remanufacturing has the objective of restoring the original performance of a battery. In that sense remanufacturing can be seen as an extreme case of re-use entailing the disassembly and evaluation of the cells and modules of the battery and the replacement of a certain amount of these cells and modules. In order to differentiate remanufacturing from mere re-use, the restoration of the battery capacity to at least 90 % of the original rated battery capacity should be considered to be remanufacturing and necessitates the application of a specific regime. |
| (18) | Where the end-user is a consumer, and the battery has been subject to preparation for re-use, preparation for repurposing, repurposing or remanufacturing, that battery should be covered by a sales contract that complies with Directive (EU) 2019/771 of the European Parliament and of the Council (5). In particular, the requirements of that Directive cover conformity of the product, liability of the seller, including the option of a shorter liability or limitation period, burden of proof, remedies for lack of conformity, repair or replacement of the goods, and commercial guarantees. |
| (19) | Batteries should be designed and manufactured to optimise their performance, durability and safety and to minimise their environmental footprint. It is appropriate to lay down specific sustainability requirements for rechargeable industrial batteries with a capacity greater than 2 kWh, LMT batteries and electric vehicle batteries, as such batteries represent the market segment which is expected to increase the most in the coming years. |
| (20) | For the safety of electric vehicle batteries and starting, lighting and ignition batteries (SLI batteries), the continued validity of the EU type-approval for vehicles of categories M, N and O in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2018/858 of the European Parliament and of the Council (6) requires that any battery which has been repaired or exchanged continues to comply with the applicable safety requirements. Where safety particulars have changed, further inspections or tests are required to verify continued compliance with the requirements upon which the existing EU type-approval has been based. |
| (21) | In line with the Communication of the Commission of 12 May 2021 on ‘Pathway to a Healthy Planet for All – EU Action Plan: “Towards Zero Pollution for Air, Water and Soil” ’, Union policies should be based on the principle that preventive action should be taken at source. In its Communication of 14 October 2020 on ‘Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability – Towards a Toxic-Free Environment’ (the ‘Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability’), the Commission underlines that the Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council (7) and Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council (8) should be reinforced as the Union’s cornerstones for regulating chemicals in the Union and that they should be complemented by coherent approaches to assess and manage chemicals in existing sectorial legislation. The use of hazardous substances in batteries should therefore primarily be restricted at source in order to protect human health and the environment and to manage the presence of such substances in waste. This Regulation should complement the Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 and Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 and allow the adoption of risk management measures related to substances including the waste phase. |
| (22) | In addition to the restrictions set out in Annex XVII to Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, it is appropriate to set out restrictions for the presence of mercury, cadmium and lead in certain categories of batteries. Batteries used in vehicles which benefit from an exemption under Annex II to Directive 2000/53/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (9) should be excluded from the prohibition to contain cadmium. With a view to further restrictions on substances present in batteries or used in their manufacturing, it is appropriate to carry out a mapping of substances of concern, defined in the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability as substances having a chronic effect for human health or the environment, such as substances in the candidate list for eventual inclusion in Annex XIV to Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 and in Annex VI to Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008, but also those which hamper recycling for safe and high quality secondary raw materials, in the context of the substance evaluation planned in the REACH Evaluation Joint Action Plan published on the website of the European Chemicals Agency set up under Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 (‘the Agency’). |
| (23) | In order to ensure that substances that pose an unacceptable risk to human health or to the environment when used in batteries or present in waste batteries, can be duly addressed, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 TFEU should be delegated to the Commission in respect of amending restrictions on substances in batteries. |
| (24) | The assessment procedure for adopting new and amending current restrictions on substances in batteries and waste batteries should be fully streamlined with Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006. To ensure effective decision-making, coordination and management of the related technical, scientific and administrative aspects of this Regulation, the Agency should carry out specified tasks with regard to the evaluation of risks from substances in the manufacture and use of batteries, as well as those that may occur after their end-of-life as well as the evaluation of the socioeconomic elements and the analysis of alternatives, in accordance with relevant guidance by the Agency. Consequently, the Committees for Risk Assessment and Socioeconomic Analysis of the Agency should facilitate the carrying out of certain tasks conferred on the Agency by this Regulation. |
| (25) | In order to ensure that this Regulation is coherent with any future amendment of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 or of other future Union law concerning sustainability criteria for hazardous substances and chemicals, the Commission should assess whether an amendment of Articles 6, 86, 87 and 88 of this Regulation is required. Where appropriate, the Commission should propose amendments to this Regulation in a future regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 or in other future Union law concerning sustainably criteria for hazardous substances and chemicals. |
| (26) | In order to promote a sustainable European economic model, the Commission should, where appropriate, propose amendments to the provisions of this Regulation regulating the restrictions on substances in batteries and in waste batteries, including the introduction of an export ban on batteries that are not compliant with those restrictions. |
| (27) | The expected massive deployment of batteries in sectors like mobility and energy storage should reduce carbon emissions. However, to maximise that potential, it is necessary that their overall life cycle have a low carbon footprint. According to the Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules for High Specific Energy Rechargeable Batteries for Mobile Applications, climate change is the second highest related impact category for batteries after the mining and use of minerals and metals. Rechargeable industrial batteries with a capacity greater than 2 kWh, LMT batteries and electric vehicle batteries placed on the Union market should therefore be accompanied by a carbon footprint declaration. Harmonising the technical rules for calculating the carbon footprint for all rechargeable industrial batteries with a capacity greater than 2 kWh, LMT batteries and electric vehicle batteries placed on the Union market is a prerequisite for introducing a requirement for a carbon footprint declaration and subsequently for establishing carbon footprint performance classes that will enable batteries with lower overall carbon footprints to be identified. Information and clear labelling requirements on the carbon footprint of batteries is not expected in itself to lead to the behavioural change necessary to ensure that the Union’s objective to decarbonise the mobility and energy storage sectors is achieved, in line with the internationally agreed objectives on climate change. Therefore, maximum carbon thresholds should be introduced, further to a dedicated impact assessment to determine those values. In proposing the level of the maximum carbon footprint threshold, the Commission should, inter alia, take into account the relative distribution of the carbon footprint values in batteries on the market, the extent of progress in the reduction of carbon footprint of batteries placed on the Union market and the effective and potential contribution of this measure to the Union’s objectives on sustainable mobility and climate neutrality by 2050 at the latest. In order to bring about transparency on the batteries’ carbon footprint, and shift the Union market towards batteries with a lower carbon footprint, regardless of where they are produced, a gradual and cumulative increase in the carbon footprint requirements is justified. As a result of these requirements, the avoided carbon emissions in batteries’ life cycle, will contribute to the Union’s climate objectives, particularly that of reaching climate neutrality by 2050 at the latest. This could also contribute to other policies at Union and national level, such as by means of incentives or green public procurement criteria, fostering the production of batteries with lower environmental impacts. |
| (28) | The maximum life cycle carbon footprint thresholds should be future-proof. Therefore, when adopting a delegated act determining the maximum life cycle carbon footprint threshold, the Commission should take into account the best available manufacturing and production processes and ensure that the technical criteria it selects are consistent with the objective of this Regulation of ensuring that batteries placed on the Union market guarantee a high level of protection of human health, safety of persons, and of property and the environment. |
| (29) | Certain substances present in batteries, such as cobalt, lead, lithium or nickel, are acquired from scarce resources which are not easily available in the Union, and some are considered critical raw materials by the Commission. In line with the communication of the Commission of 5 May 2021 on ‘Updating the 2020 New Industrial Strategy: Building a stronger Single Market for Europe’s recovery’, the Union needs to enhance its strategic autonomy and increase its resilience in preparation for potential disruptions in supply due to health or other crises. Enhancing circularity and resource efficiency with increased recycling and recovery of those raw materials, will contribute to reaching that goal. |
| (30) | The increased use of recovered raw materials would support the development of the circular economy and allow a more resource-efficient use of raw materials, while reducing Union dependency on raw materials from third countries. For batteries, this is particularly relevant for cobalt, lead, lithium and nickel. Therefore, it is necessary to promote the recovery of such materials from waste, by establishing a requirement for the level of recycled content in batteries using cobalt, lead, lithium and nickel in active materials. This Regulation should therefore set mandatory recycled content targets for cobalt, lead, lithium and nickel, which should be met by 2031. For cobalt, lithium and nickel, increased targets should be established by 2036. All targets should take into account the availability of waste from which such materials can be recovered, the technical feasibility of the recovery and manufacture processes involved, as well as the time needed by the economic operators to adapt their supply and manufacturing processes. Therefore, before such mandatory targets become applicable, the requirement related to recycled content should be limited to disclosure of information on recycled content. Battery manufacturing waste is likely to be the main source of secondary raw materials for battery manufacturing due to the increase in the production of batteries and should be subject to the same recycling processes as post-consumer waste. Therefore, battery manufacturing waste should be counted as part of the recycled content targets with the objective of accelerating the development of the necessary recycling infrastructure. However, by-products of battery manufacturing that are re-used in the production process, such as manufacturing scrap, do not constitute waste and should therefore not be counted as part of the recycled content targets. |
| (31) | In order to take into account the risk of short supply of cobalt, lead, lithium and nickel and to assess the availability of those raw materials, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 TFEU should be delegated to the Commission in respect of amending the targets for the minimum share of recycled cobalt, lead, lithium or nickel present in active materials in batteries. |
| (32) | In order to take into account changes in battery technologies, which impact the types of materials that can be recovered, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 TFEU should be delegated to the Commission to supplement this Regulation by inserting further raw materials and respective targets in the list of minimum shares of recycled content present in active materials in batteries. |
| (33) | In order to ensure that the calculations and verifications of the percentage share of cobalt, lead, lithium and nickel recovered are accurate and reliable and ensure that there is greater legal certainty, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 TFEU should be delegated to the Commission to supplement this Regulation by establishing the methodology for the calculation and verification of the percentage share of cobalt, lithium or nickel that is present in active materials and that has been recovered from battery manufacturing waste or post-consumer waste and the percentage share of lead that is present in the battery and that has been recovered from waste and the format for the technical documentation on those percentage shares, for each battery model per year and per manufacturing plant. The reutilisation of materials, such as rework, regrind or scrap generated in the battery manufacturing process, which can be reclaimed within the same process that generated the material, should be excluded from that methodology. |
| (34) | Batteries placed on the Union market should be durable and of high performance. It is therefore necessary to set out performance and durability parameters for portable batteries of general use as well as for rechargeable industrial batteries, LMT batteries and electric vehicle batteries. For electric vehicle batteries, the informal UNECE Working Group on Electric Vehicles and the Environment has developed in-vehicle durability requirements that are to apply in the Union through a future regulation on type-approval of motor vehicles and engines and of systems, components and separate technical units intended for such vehicles, with respect to their emissions and battery durability (Euro 7) (‘Euro 7 Regulation’). Therefore this Regulation should only set information requirements for the performance and durability of electric vehicle batteries. On the other hand, in the area of batteries for energy storage, existing measurement methods to test battery performance and durability are not considered to be sufficiently precise and representative to enable introducing minimum requirements. The introduction of minimum requirements related to performance and durability of these batteries should be accompanied by available adequate harmonised standards or common specifications. |
| (35) | In order to reduce the life cycle environmental impact of batteries, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 TFEU should be delegated to the Commission in respect of amending the performance and durability parameters for portable batteries of general use and for rechargeable industrial batteries and establishing minimum values for those parameters. Those delegated acts should also establish how those minimum values are to apply to batteries that have been subject to remanufacturing. |
| (36) | In order to ensure that the Union’s rules on electrochemical performance and durability for electric vehicle batteries are consistent with the technical specifications of the informal UNECE Working Group on Electric Vehicles and the Environment and in view of technical and scientific progress, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 TFEU should be delegated to the Commission in respect of amending the performance and durability parameters for electric vehicle batteries. For the minimum values of those parameters for electric vehicle batteries that are incorporated in motor vehicles, it is appropriate to set minimum performance requirements through a future Euro 7 Regulation, based on the minimum performance requirements set out in United Nations (UN) Global Technical Regulation No 22 on in-vehicle battery durability for electrified vehicles. |
| (37) | Some non-rechargeable batteries of general use can be inefficient in terms of use of resources and energy. Objective requirements regarding the performance and durability of such batteries should be established in order to ensure that fewer low performing non-rechargeable portable batteries of general use are placed on the market, in particular, where, based on a life cycle assessment, the alternative use of rechargeable batteries would result in overall environmental benefits. For batteries that are incorporated in mobile phones and tablets it is appropriate to set performance and durability requirements regarding those batteries through a future eco-design regulation addressing phones and tablets and to update Commission Regulation (EU) No 617/2013 (10) on computers and computer servers. For other portable batteries that are incorporated in other appliances, such as gardening tools or cordless power tools, the possibility of setting minimum performance and durability requirements should be addressed in relevant product legal acts, such as implementing acts under Directive 2009/125/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (11), or in other Union legal act. |
| (38) | In order to ensure that portable batteries that were incorporated into appliances are subject to separate collection, treatment and high quality recycling once those appliances become waste, provisions to ensure the removability and replaceability of batteries in such appliances are necessary. Consumer safety should be ensured, in line with Union law and in particular Union safety standards, during the removal of portable batteries from or the replacement of portable batteries in an appliance. A portable battery should be considered to be removable by the end-user when it can be removed with the use of commercially available tools and without requiring the use of specialised tools, unless they are provided free of charge, or proprietary tools, thermal energy or solvents to disassemble it. Commercially available tools are considered to be tools available on the market to all end-users without the need for them to provide evidence of any proprietary rights and that can be used with no restriction, except health and safety-related restrictions. The general provisions of this Regulation should apply without prejudice to the safety and maintenance requirements for professional medical imaging and radiotherapy devices as defined in Regulation (EU) 2017/745 of the European Parliament and of the Council (12) and for in vitro diagnostic medical devices as defined in Regulation (EU) 2017/746 of the European Parliament and of the Council (13), and could be complemented with requirements laid down for particular products powered by batteries under implementing measures under Directive 2009/125/EC. Where other Union law lays down more specific requirements, for safety reasons, regarding the removal of batteries from products, such as toys, those specific rules should apply. |
| (39) | To ensure the safety of end-users, this Regulation should provide for a limited derogation for portable batteries from the removability and replaceability requirements set for portable batteries concerning appliances that incorporate portable batteries and that are specifically designed to be used, for the majority of the active service of the appliance, in an environment that is regularly subject to splashing water, water streams or water immersion and that are intended to be washable or rinseable. This derogation should only apply when it is not possible, by way of redesign of the appliance, to ensure the safety of the end-user and the safe continued use of the appliance after the end-user has correctly followed the instructions to remove and replace the battery. Where the derogation applies, the product should be designed in such a way as to make the battery removable and replaceable only by independent professionals, and not by end-users. |
| (40) | For repaired electric vehicle batteries and SLI batteries, the safety requirements of Regulation (EU) 2019/2144 of the European Parliament and of the Council (14) apply to type-approved vehicles of categories M, N and O and batteries designed and constructed for those vehicles. It is important that the safety of such batteries when repaired can be assessed based on non-destructive tests adapted to them. For repaired LMT batteries, the Commission will prepare rules on the safety of micromobility devices, building on experience at national and local levels of safety requirements, as announced in the communication of the Commission of 14 December 2021 on ‘The new EU Urban Mobility Framework’. For other repaired batteries intended for consumers or likely to be used by them, the requirements of Directive 2001/95/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (15) apply. |
| (41) | The interoperability of chargers for specific categories of batteries could reduce unnecessary waste and costs for the benefit of consumers and other end-users. It should be possible therefore to recharge LMT batteries and rechargeable batteries that are incorporated into specific categories of electrical and electronic equipment, by making use of common chargers that allow interoperability within each category of batteries. This Regulation should therefore require the Commission to assess how to introduce harmonised standards for common chargers for those categories of batteries, excluding charging devices for categories and classes of radio equipment under Directive 2014/53/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (16). |
| (42) | SLI batteries and electric vehicle batteries that are incorporated in motor vehicles should be removable and replaceable by independent professionals. It is appropriate to consider revising Directive 2000/53/EC to ensure that those batteries can be removed, replaced and disassembled, including as regards joining, fastening and sealing elements. For the purposes of the design, manufacturing and the repair of SLI batteries and electric vehicle batteries, manufacturers should provide the relevant vehicle on-board diagnostic information and vehicle repair and maintenance information on a non-discriminatory basis to any interested manufacturer, installer or repairer of equipment for vehicles of categories M, N and O, as provided for in Regulation (EU) 2018/858. Furthermore, the Commission should encourage the development of standards for design and assembly techniques that facilitate the maintenance, repair and repurposing of batteries and battery packs. |
| (43) | Reliable batteries are fundamental for the operation and safety of many products, appliances and services. Therefore, batteries should be designed and manufactured to ensure they pose no risk to human health or the safety of persons, to property or the environment. This is particularly relevant for stationary battery energy storage systems, which are currently not covered by other Union law. Parameters to be considered in safety tests should therefore be laid down for those batteries and be complemented by applicable standards of the European standardisation organisations. |
| (44) | Batteries should be labelled in order to provide end-users with transparent, reliable and clear information about batteries and waste batteries. That information would enable end-users to make informed decisions when buying and discarding batteries and waste operators to appropriately treat waste batteries. Batteries should be labelled with all the necessary information concerning their main characteristics, including their capacity and the amount of certain hazardous substances present. To ensure the availability of information over time, that information should also be made available by means of QR codes which are printed or engraved on batteries or are affixed to the packaging and to the documents accompanying the battery and should respect the guidelines of ISO/IEC Standard 18004:2015. The QR code should give access to a battery’s product passport. Labels and QR codes should be accessible to persons with disabilities, in accordance with Directive (EU) 2019/882 of the European Parliament and of the Council (17). |
| (45) | The inclusion on the battery label of information about the performance of batteries is essential to ensure that end-users, especially consumers, before making their purchase are appropriately informed and in particular that they have a common basis to compare different batteries. Therefore, non-rechargeable portable batteries should be marked with a label indicating ‘non-rechargeable’ and containing the information on their minimum average duration when used in specific applications. Additionally, it is important to offer guidance to the end-user on how to discard waste batteries in an appropriate way. |
| (46) | For stationary battery energy storage systems, LMT batteries and electric-vehicle batteries using a battery management system, it should be possible for the end-user or any other third party acting on behalf of that end-user to determine the state of health and expected lifetime of the batteries at any time from the data stored in the battery management system. Read-only access to those data should be provided to the person who purchased the battery or any third party acting on behalf of that person at any time for the purposes of evaluating the residual value of the battery, facilitating the preparation for re-use, preparation for repurposing, repurposing or remanufacturing of the battery or for making the battery available to independent aggregators, as defined in Directive (EU) 2019/944 of the European Parliament and of the Council (18), which operate virtual power plants in electricity grids. Therefore, the data should be up to date. It should be updated at least daily and more frequently where that is required for a specific purpose. Technical specifications that originate from the work of the informal UNECE Working Group on Electric Vehicles and the Environment on data access in electric vehicles should be considered to be a benchmark for the state of health and expected lifetime of electric vehicle batteries. These requirements should apply in addition to Union law on type-approval of vehicles, which is the appropriate legal framework for addressing, inter alia, smart charging functions such as vehicle-to-grid, vehicle-to-load, vehicle-to-vehicle, vehicle-to-powerbank and vehicle-to-building charging. |
| (47) | A number of product-specific requirements under this Regulation, including on performance, durability, repurposing and safety, should be measured by using reliable, accurate and reproducible methods that take into account the generally recognised state-of-the-art measurements, standards and calculation methodologies. In order to ensure that there are no barriers to trade on the internal market, standards should be harmonised at Union level. Such methods and standards should, to the extent possible, take into account the real-life usage of batteries, reflect the average range of consumer behaviour and be robust in order to deter intentional and unintentional circumvention. Once a reference to such a standard has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (19), batteries that meet that standard should be presumed to be in conformity with those product-specific requirements under this Regulation, provided that the minimum values established for those product-specific requirements are attained. In order to avoid the duplication of technical specifications on the one hand and to maximise efficiency and to take account of the highest levels of expertise and state-of the art knowledge on the other, the Commission should aim to request one or more European standardisation organisations to draft a standard where there is no standard in existence. In the absence of published standards at the time of the application of product-specific requirements, or in the event of an unsatisfactory response by the relevant European standardisation organisation the Commission should adopt, in exceptional and justified cases and after consultation with the relevant stakeholders, common specifications through implementing acts. The compliance with such specifications should also give rise to the presumption of conformity. In cases where the common specifications are, at a later stage, found to have shortcomings, the Commission should by implementing act amend or repeal the common specifications in question. After the references of harmonised standards are published in the Official Journal of the European Union, any common specification should be repealed within a reasonable period which allows manufacturers to take the changes into account. |
| (48) | Active involvement in the work of international standardisation committees is an important strategic prerequisite for placing future battery technologies on the market. European involvement in some of those committees has been less effective than it could have been. European involvement should be improved to strengthen the Union’s voice in global standardisation, also with a view to enhance the competitiveness of Union companies, to reduce the Union’s dependencies and to protect the interests, policy objectives and values of the Union. Therefore, the Commission and the Member States should monitor and coordinate the European approach to international standardisation. Harmonised standards that complement the implementation of this Regulation should take into account existing international standards, in particular at IEC and ISO level. |
| (49) | The Commission should ensure that there is consistency regarding harmonised standards and common specifications under this Regulation, including when reviewing Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012. |
| (50) | To ensure effective access to information for market surveillance purposes, to adapt to new technologies and to ensure resilience in case of global crises, such as the Covid-19 pandemic, it should be possible to provide information online regarding conformity with all Union acts applicable to batteries in the form of a single EU declaration of conformity. |
| (51) | Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council (20) lays down rules on the accreditation of conformity assessment bodies, provides a framework for the market surveillance of products and for controls on products from third countries, and lays down the general principles of the CE marking. That Regulation should be applicable to batteries covered by this Regulation in order to ensure that products benefiting from the free movement of goods within the Union fulfil requirements providing a high level of protection of public interests such as human health, safety of persons and the environment. |
| (52) | In order to enable economic operators to demonstrate and the competent authorities to verify that batteries made available on the market comply with this Regulation, it is necessary to provide for conformity assessment procedures. Decision No 768/2008/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (21) establishes modules for conformity assessment procedures, ranging from the least to the most stringent depending on the level of risk involved and the level of safety required. In accordance with that Decision, where conformity assessment is required, the procedures to be used for that assessment are to be chosen from among those modules. Robust conformity assessment procedures are needed to ensure that batteries comply with the novel and complex carbon footprint and recycled content requirements and due diligence obligations laid down in this Regulation. |
| (53) | The CE marking on a battery indicates the conformity of that battery with this Regulation. General principles governing the CE marking and its relationship to other markings are set out in Regulation (EC) No 765/2008. Those principles should apply to the CE marking on batteries. In order to ensure that batteries are stored, used and discarded in a manner which is safe from the point of view of protecting human health and the environment, specific rules governing the affixing of the CE marking for batteries should be laid down. |
| (54) | The conformity assessment procedures set out in this Regulation require the intervention of conformity assessment bodies. In order to ensure a uniform implementation of the provisions in this Regulation, those bodies should be notified by the Member State authorities to the Commission. |
| (55) | Due to the novelty and complexity of the sustainability, performance, safety, labelling and information requirements for batteries under this Regulation and in order to ensure a consistent level of quality of conformity assessment of batteries, it is necessary to set requirements for the notifying authorities that are involved in the assessment, notification and monitoring of conformity assessment bodies that have been notified to the Commission, thereby becoming notified bodies. In particular, it should be ensured that the notifying authority is objective and impartial with regard to its activities and has a sufficient number of technically competent members of staff to perform its tasks. Furthermore, notifying authorities should be required to safeguard the confidentiality of the information they obtain, but should nonetheless be able to exchange information on notified bodies with national authorities, the notifying authorities of other Member States and the Commission to ensure consistency in the conformity assessment. |
| (56) | It is essential that all notified bodies perform their functions to the same level and under conditions of fair competition and autonomy. Therefore, this Regulation should lay down requirements for conformity assessment bodies wishing to be notified in order to carry out conformity assessment activities. Those requirements should continue to apply as a prerequisite for keeping the competence of the notified body up-to-date. To ensure its autonomy, the notified body and the staff it employs should be required to remain independent of economic operators in the battery value chain and from other companies, including business associations and parent companies and subsidiaries. The notified body should be required to provide documentary proof of its independence and provide that documentation to the notifying authority. The notified bodies should ensure rotation of the personnel carrying out different conformity assessment tasks. |
| (57) | If a conformity assessment body demonstrates conformity of the battery with the criteria laid down in harmonised standards it should be presumed to comply with the corresponding requirements laid down in this Regulation. |
| (58) | Conformity assessment bodies frequently subcontract parts of their activities linked to the assessment of conformity or have recourse to a subsidiary. Certain activities and decision-making processes, both regarding the conformity assessment of batteries and other activities internal to the notified body, should however be carried out exclusively by the notified body itself, in order to ensure its independence and autonomy. Furthermore, in order to safeguard the level of protection required for batteries to be placed on the Union market, conformity assessment subcontractors and subsidiaries should fulfil the same requirements as notified bodies in relation to the performance of conformity assessment tasks under this Regulation. |
| (59) | Since the services offered by notified bodies in a Member State might relate to batteries made available on the market throughout the Union, it is appropriate to give the other Member States and the Commission the opportunity to raise objections concerning a notified body. The Commission, during its investigations, can seek the advice of a Union testing facility, designated in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 of the European Parliament and of the Council (22). In order to ensure uniform conditions for the implementation of this Regulation, implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission in order to request the notifying authority to take corrective action in case a notified body does not meet or no longer meets the requirements of this Regulation. |
| (60) | In the interests of facilitating and accelerating the conformity assessment procedure, certification and ultimately market access, and in view of the novelty and complexity of the sustainability, safety, labelling and information requirements for batteries provided for in this Regulation, it is crucial that notified bodies have continuous access to all testing equipment and testing facilities needed and that they apply the procedures without creating an unnecessary burden for economic operators. For the same reasons, and to ensure equal treatment of economic operators, it is necessary that notified bodies apply the conformity assessment procedures consistently. |
| (61) | Prior to taking a final decision on whether a battery can be granted a conformity certificate, the economic operator that wishes to place a battery on the market should be allowed to submit complementary documentation on the battery once. |
| (62) | The Commission should enable appropriate coordination and cooperation between notified bodies. |
| (63) | It is appropriate to lay down the obligations on the economic operators related to the placing on the market or putting into service of batteries. For the purposes of this Regulation the term ‘economic operator’ should be understood to cover the manufacturer, the authorised representative, the importer, the distributor, the fulfilment service provider or any other natural or legal person who is subject to obligations in relation to the manufacture of batteries, making them available or placing them on the market or putting them into service. Batteries, for the purposes of this Regulation, should include batteries that have been subject to preparation for re-use, preparation for repurposing, repurposing or remanufacturing. |
| (64) | It is appropriate to provide that the requirements for batteries, which are put into service without being placed on the market beforehand, should be the same as for batteries that are placed on the market before being put into service. This concerns for example batteries that the manufacturer uses for its own purposes, or batteries that, because of their characteristics, can only be assembled and tested on-site in their final destination. However, to avoid the need to demonstrate compliance twice for the same product, batteries that are placed on the market should not be subject to the same requirements when they are put into service. |
| (65) | Economic operators should be responsible for the compliance of batteries with the requirements of this Regulation, in relation to their respective roles in the supply chain, to ensure a high level of protection of public interests such as human health, safety of persons, the protection of property and the environment. |
| (66) | All economic operators active in the supply and distribution chain should take appropriate measures to ensure that they only make available on the market batteries which are in conformity with this Regulation. It is necessary to provide for a clear and proportionate distribution of obligations which corresponds to the role of each economic operator in the supply and distribution chain. |
| (67) | The manufacturer, having detailed knowledge of the design and production process, is best placed to carry out the conformity assessment procedure. Conformity assessment should therefore remain the obligation of the manufacturer alone. |
| (68) | The manufacturer should provide sufficiently detailed information on the intended use of the battery to allow its correct and safe placing on the market, putting into service, use and waste management, including possible repurposing. |
| (69) | In order to facilitate communication between economic operators, market surveillance authorities and end-users, economic operators should, as part of their contact details, indicate a postal and, if available, email and website address. |
| (70) | The single market should ensure equal conditions of competition for all economic operators and protection against unfair competition. To that end, strengthened enforcement of Union harmonisation legislation on batteries is necessary. Good cooperation between economic operators and the market surveillance authorities is a key element of such strengthened enforcement, allowing immediate intervention and corrective action. It is important that there be an economic operator established in the Union so that there is someone to whom market surveillance authorities can address requests, including requests for information regarding a battery’s compliance with Union harmonisation legislation, and who can cooperate with market surveillance authorities in making sure that immediate corrective action is taken to remedy instances of non-compliance. The economic operators who should perform those tasks are the manufacturer, or the importer when the manufacturer is not established in the Union, or an authorised representative mandated by the manufacturer for this purpose, or a fulfilment service provider established in the Union for batteries handled by it when no other economic operator is established in the Union. |
| (71) | It is necessary to ensure that batteries from third countries entering the Union market comply with the requirements of this Regulation, and with other applicable Union law, whether imported on their own or incorporated into or added to products, and, in particular, that appropriate conformity assessment procedures have been carried out by manufacturers with regard to those batteries. Provision should therefore be made for importers to make sure that the batteries they place on the market and put into service comply with the requirements of this Regulation and that the CE marking on batteries and documentation drawn up by manufacturers are available for inspection by the national authorities, whether imported as new or used batteries or batteries that have been subject to preparation for re-use, preparation for repurposing, repurposing or remanufacturing. |
| (72) | When placing a battery on the market or putting it into service, every importer should indicate on the battery the importer’s name, registered trade name or registered trade mark as well as the postal and, if available, email and website address. Exceptions should be provided for cases where the size of the battery is too small for that information to be affixed to it or where the importer would have to open the packaging in order to affix the importer’s name, registered trade name or registered trade mark and the other contact details. In those exceptional cases, the importer should provide the information in a document accompanying the battery or in another immediately accessible way. Where packaging exists, the importer should indicate the information on that packaging. |
| (73) | Where a distributor makes a battery available on the market after it has been placed on the market or put into service by the manufacturer or the importer, the distributor should act with due care to ensure that its handling of the battery does not adversely affect its compliance with the requirements of this Regulation. |
| (74) | Any importer or distributor that places a battery on the market or puts it into service under the importer’s or distributor’s own name or trademark, or modifies a battery in such a way that compliance with the requirements of this Regulation could be affected or modifies the purpose of a battery that is already placed on the market should be considered to be the manufacturer and should assume the obligations of the manufacturer provided for in this Regulation. |
| (75) | Distributors, importers and fulfilment service providers, being close to the market place, should be involved in market surveillance tasks carried out by the national authorities, and should be ready to participate actively, providing those authorities with all necessary information relating to the battery concerned. |
| (76) | Ensuring traceability of a battery throughout the whole supply chain helps to make market surveillance simpler and more efficient, and provides transparency to consumers. An efficient traceability system facilitates the market surveillance authorities’ task of tracing economic operators who have placed on the market, made available on the market or put into service non-compliant batteries. Economic operators should therefore be required to keep information on their transactions involving batteries for a certain period, including in electronic form. |
| (77) | The extraction, processing and trading of natural mineral resources is fundamental in providing the necessary raw materials for the production of batteries. Battery manufacturers, regardless of their position or leverage over suppliers and of their geographical location, could inadvertently contribute to adverse impacts in the mineral supply chain. For some raw materials, over half of global production is intended for use in battery applications. For example, over 50 % of the global demand for cobalt and over 60 % of the world’s lithium is used for battery production. About 8 % of global natural graphite production and 6 % of global nickel production goes into battery manufacturing. |
| (78) | Only a few countries supply the raw materials used in battery manufacture and, in some cases, low standards of governance in those countries can exacerbate environmental and social problems. Both cobalt and nickel mining and refining are connected with a large range of social and environmental issues. While the social and environmental impacts for natural graphite are less severe, the mining of natural graphite can have serious health and environmental impacts since it is mainly carried out by artisanal and small scale operations, mostly in informal settings. This, together with the absence of regularly updated mine closure plans and rehabilitation, can result in the destruction of ecosystems and soils. The expected increase in the use of lithium in battery manufacturing is likely to put additional pressure on extraction and refining operations. It is therefore appropriate that lithium be included in the scope of battery due diligence obligations. The expected massive increase in demand for batteries in the Union should not contribute to an increase of such environmental and social risks. |
| (79) | Some of the raw materials used in battery manufacturing, such as cobalt, lithium and natural graphite, are considered to be critical raw materials for the Union, as indicated by the Commission in its communication of 3 September 2020 on ‘Critical Raw Materials Resilience: Charting a Path towards greater Security and Sustainability’, and their sustainable sourcing is required for the Union battery ecosystem to perform adequately. |
| (80) | A number of voluntary efforts from actors in the battery supply chain are already in place in order to encourage adherence to sustainable sourcing practices, including the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance, the Responsible Minerals Initiative and the Cobalt Industry Responsible Assessment Framework. However, it is not certain that voluntary efforts to set up due diligence schemes will ensure that all economic operators placing batteries in the Union market abide by the same set of minimum rules. |
| (81) | In the Union, general requirements on due diligence in relation to certain minerals and metals were introduced by Regulation (EU) 2017/821 of the European Parliament and of the Council (23). That Regulation does not, however, address the minerals and materials used for battery production. |
| (82) | Therefore, in view of the expected exponential growth in battery demand in the Union, an economic operator that places a battery on the Union market should set up a battery due diligence policy. Requirements therefore should be laid down in this Regulation, in order to address the social and environmental risks inherent in the extraction, processing and trading of certain raw materials and secondary raw materials used for the purposes of battery manufacturing. Such policy should encompass all operators in the supply chain, and their subsidiaries and subcontractors, that extract, process and trade certain raw materials and secondary raw materials. |
| (83) | When putting in place a risk-based battery due diligence policy, the economic operator should base it on internationally recognised due diligence standards and principles, such as those in the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact, the United Nations Environment programme (UNEP) Guidelines for Social Life Cycle Assessment of Products, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct. Those standards and principles which each economic operator should tailor to its specific context and circumstances, reflect a common understanding amongst governments and stakeholders. In relation to the extraction, processing and trading of natural mineral resources used for battery production, the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas represents an internationally acknowledged standard addressing the specific risks of gross human rights violations, and a long-standing effort by governments and stakeholders to establish good practice in this area. |
| (84) | According to the UN, ILO and OECD standards and principles, due diligence is an on-going, proactive and reactive process through which companies can ensure that they respect human rights and the environment and do not contribute to conflict. Risk-based due diligence refers to the steps companies should take to identify, prevent, mitigate and otherwise address adverse impacts associated with their activities or sourcing decisions. Economic operators should hold informed, effective and meaningful consultations with affected communities. A company can assess the risks posed by its activities and relationships and adopt risk-mitigation measures, which can include requiring additional information, negotiating with a view to redressing the situation, or suspending or discontinuing engagement with suppliers, in line with relevant standards provided under national and international law, recommendations on responsible business conduct by international organisations, government-backed tools, private sector voluntary initiatives and a company’s internal policies and systems. This approach also helps to scale the due diligence exercise in proportion to the size of the company’s activities or supply chain relationships. |
| (85) | While private sector due diligence schemes can support economic operators in fulfilling their battery due diligence obligations in line with the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, economic operators should be individually responsible for fulfilment of the due diligence obligations laid down in this Regulation. |
| (86) | Mandatory battery due diligence policies should be adopted or changed and should address, at least the most prevalent social and environmental risk categories. Such a policy should cover the current and foreseeable impacts on social issues, in particular human rights, human health and safety of persons as well as occupational health and safety, and labour rights, on the one hand, and on the environment, in particular on water use, soil protection, air pollution, climate change and biodiversity, as well as protection of community life, on the other. |
| (87) | As regards the social risk categories, battery due diligence policies should address the risks in relation to the protection of human rights, including human health, community life, including that of indigenous peoples, the protection of children and gender equality, in line with international human rights law. The battery due diligence policies should include information on how the economic operator has contributed to the prevention of human rights abuses and on the instruments in place within the operator’s business structure to fight corruption and bribery. The battery due diligence policies should also ensure proper implementation of the rules of fundamental conventions of the ILO as listed in Annex I to the ILO Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy. |
| (88) | Human rights abuses are common in resource-rich conflict-affected and high-risk areas. Therefore, such areas deserve specific attention in the battery due diligence policy of economic operators. Regulation (EU) 2017/821 includes provisions for an indicative, non-exhaustive, regularly updated list of conflict-affected and high-risk areas. That list is also relevant for the implementation of the battery due diligence provisions of this Regulation. |
| (89) | As regards the environmental risk categories, the battery due diligence policies should address the risks for the protection of the natural environment and biological diversity, in line with the Convention on Biological Diversity, which includes the consideration of local communities and the protection and the development of those communities. Battery due diligence policies should also address the risks related to climate change, in line with the Paris Agreement (24), adopted on 12 December 2015 under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (the ‘UN Paris Agreement’), as well as environmental risks covered by other international environmental conventions. |
| (90) | The battery due diligence obligations on the identification and mitigation of social and environmental risks associated with raw materials used in battery manufacturing should contribute to the implementation of UNEP Resolution 4/19 on Mineral Resource Governance, which recognises the important contribution of the mining sector towards the achievement of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals. |
| (91) | Other Union legal acts that lay down requirements regarding supply chain due diligence should apply to batteries in so far as there are no specific provisions with the same objective, nature and effect in this Regulation which can be adapted in the light of future legislative amendments. Such legal acts might address the civil liability of companies for damages arising due to their failure to comply with due diligence requirements. Where such legal acts do not or not completely address the civil liability consequences of battery due diligence obligations of this Regulation, it should be possible for them to be addressed by national rules. |
| (92) | In order to adapt to developments in the battery value chain, including to changes in the scope and nature of the relevant environmental and social risks, as well as to technical and scientific progress in batteries and battery chemistries, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 TFEU should be delegated to the Commission in respect of amending the list of raw materials and risk categories, the list of international instruments and the battery due diligence obligations. |
| (93) | In order to establish the equivalence of due diligence schemes that have been developed by governments, industry associations and groupings of interested organisations, implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission. |
| (94) | In order to enable proper, sound and consistent evaluation of the due diligence schemes, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 TFEU should be delegated to the Commission to supplement this Regulation by establishing the criteria and the methodology for determining whether the due diligence schemes enable economic operators to fulfil the due diligence requirements of this Regulation. |
| (95) | Harmonised rules for waste management are necessary to ensure that producers and other economic operators are subject to the same rules across the Member States in the implementation of the extended producer responsibility for batteries and to ensure a high level of protection of human health and the environment across the Union. Extended producer responsibility can contribute to reducing overall resource use, in particular by reducing the generation of waste batteries and the adverse impacts linked to the management of waste batteries. Maximising the separate collection of waste batteries and ensuring that all waste batteries that are collected are recycled through processes that meet common minimum recycling efficiencies is necessary in order to attain high levels of recovery of materials. In its evaluation of Directive 2006/66/EC, the Commission found that one of the shortcomings of that Directive is that its provisions were insufficiently detailed, leading to uneven implementation and creating significant barriers to the functioning of recycling markets and suboptimal levels of recycling. Consequently, more detailed and harmonised rules would avoid distortions of the market for the collection, treatment and recycling of waste batteries and ensure even implementation of the requirements across the Union. It would also result in further harmonisation of the quality of waste management services provided by economic operators and facilitate the functioning of the market for secondary raw materials. |
| (96) | In order to ensure that the obligations under this Regulation are carried out and to monitor and verify compliance by producers and producer responsibility organisations with this Regulation, it is necessary that Member States designate one or more competent authorities. |
| (97) | This Regulation builds on the waste management rules and general principles laid down in Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (25), which should be adapted to reflect the specific nature of waste batteries. For the collection of waste batteries to be organised in the most effective way, it is important that it be done both near to the place where the batteries are sold and to the end-user. Waste batteries should be collected separately from other waste streams, such as metals, paper and cardboard, glass, plastics, wood, textiles and bio-waste. Also, it should be possible for waste batteries to be collected both together with waste electrical and electronic equipment and with end-of-life vehicles, by way of national collection schemes set up on the basis of Directive 2012/19/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (26), and of Directive 2000/53/EC. While Directive 2006/66/EC sets up specific rules for batteries, there is a need for a coherent and complementary approach, building upon and further harmonising existing waste management structures. Consequently, and in order to effectively implement extended producer responsibility related to the waste management, obligations should be laid down with respect to the Member State where batteries are made available on the market for the first time. |
| (98) | In order to monitor fulfilment by producers of their obligations as regards the waste treatment of batteries made available on the market for the first time within the territory of a Member State, it is necessary that a register be established and managed by the competent authority in each Member State. The information in the register should be accessible to those entities that play a role in monitoring compliance with and enforcement of the extended producer responsibility. It should be possible for that register to be the same as the national register set up pursuant to Directive 2006/66/EC. Producers should be required to register, in order to provide the necessary information to allow the competent authorities to monitor fulfilment by producers of their obligations. Registration requirements should be simplified across the Union. |
| (99) | In the case of state-run producer responsibility organisations, as there is no represented producer’s mandate, the requirements provided in this Regulation concerning such mandates do not apply. |
| (100) | In view of the polluter pays principle, it is appropriate to impose obligations on producers as regards the management of waste batteries. In this context, producers should be understood to include any manufacturer, importer or distributor who, irrespective of the selling technique used, including by means of distance contracts as defined in Article 2, point (7), of Directive 2011/83/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (27), supplies a battery for the first time for distribution or use, including when incorporated into appliances, light means of transport or other vehicles, within the territory of a Member State on a commercial basis. |
| (101) | Producers should have extended producer responsibility for the management of their batteries at the end-of-life stage. Accordingly, they should finance the costs of collecting, treating and recycling all collected batteries, carrying out compositional surveys of mixed collected municipal waste, reporting on batteries and waste batteries, and of providing information to end-users and waste operators about batteries and appropriate re-use and management of waste batteries. The new rules on extended producer responsibility under this Regulation are intended to ensure a high level of environmental and health protection in the Union by maximising separate collection of waste batteries and ensuring that all collected batteries are recycled through processes that reach high rates of recycling efficiency and recovery of materials in light of technical and scientific progress. The obligations related to extended producer responsibility should apply to all forms of supply, including distance selling. Producers should be able to exercise those obligations collectively, by means of producer responsibility organisations taking responsibility on their behalf. Producers or producer responsibility organisations should be subject to authorisation and they should demonstrate that they have the financial means to cover the costs entailed by the extended producer responsibility. When laying down administrative and procedural rules for authorisation of producers for individual compliance and of producer responsibility organisations for collective compliance, Member States should be able to differentiate processes for individual producers and producer responsibility organisations to limit the administrative burden on individual producers. In this context, it should be possible to consider permits issued in accordance with Directive 2008/98/EC to be an authorisation for the purposes of this Regulation. Where necessary to avoid distortion of the internal market and in order to ensure uniform conditions for the modulation of the financial contributions paid to producer responsibility organisations by producers, implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission. Waste management operators carrying out collection and treatment in accordance with this Regulation should be subject to a selection procedure by producers of the relevant batteries or by producer responsibility organisations acting on their behalf, in accordance with Directive 2008/98/EC. Where waste management operations take place in a Member State other than that in which a battery was made available on the market for the first time, producers should cover the costs incurred by the waste management operators in the Member State where the waste operations take place. In the discussion on possible proposals for Union legislative acts on end-of-life vehicles and waste electrical and electronic equipment, the establishment of a cross-border extended producer responsibility mechanism for waste batteries, including those incorporated into vehicles or appliances, between the relevant actors, should be considered. Furthermore, the adoption of other measures should be considered, such as information management and verification tools, including, as appropriate, authorised representatives for extended producer responsibility, waste management operators, producer responsibility organisations, digital product passports and registers of producers, and national vehicle registration systems when covering electric vehicle batteries. |
| (102) | Extended producer responsibility should apply also to economic operators placing on the market a battery that results from preparation for re-use, preparation for repurposing, repurposing or remanufacturing operations. Therefore, the economic operator that originally placed the battery on the market should not bear the additional costs that could result from the waste management arising from the subsequent life of that battery. It should be possible for the economic operators subject to extended producer responsibility to establish a cost-sharing mechanism based on the attribution of the actual waste management costs. |
| (103) | This Regulation is a lex specialis in relation to Directive 2008/98/EC for the extended producer responsibility minimum requirements on collection and recycling targets, distributor take-back and second life. Member States should be required to define the extended producer responsibility provided for in this Regulation, in accordance with Directive 2008/98/EC and national law transposing that Directive. In addition, where this Regulation does not provide for full harmonisation in Chapter VIII, Member States should be able to provide for additional measures on those specific topics, provided such further regulation is in accordance with Directive 2008/98/EC and consistent both with national law transposing that Directive and with this Regulation. |
| (104) | This Regulation should specify how the traceability of traders’ obligations laid down in Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 of the European Parliament and of the Council (28) is to be applied to online platforms allowing consumers to conclude distance contracts with producers offering batteries, including batteries that are incorporated in appliances, light means of transport or other vehicles, and to consumers located in the Union in relation to the registers of producers established pursuant to this Regulation. For the purposes of this Regulation, any producer offering batteries, including those incorporated in appliances, light means of transport or other vehicles, by means of distance contracts directly to consumers located in a Member State, whether established in a Member State or a third country, should be considered to be a trader as defined in Regulation (EU) 2022/2065. Pursuant to that Regulation, providers of online platforms, falling within the scope of Section 4 of Chapter III thereof and who allow consumers to conclude distance contracts with producers, should obtain from those producers information on the register of producers where they are registered as well as their registration number and a self-certification committing to comply with the extended producer responsibility requirements laid down in this Regulation. The implementation of the rules on the traceability of traders for the sale of batteries online are subject to the enforcement rules laid down in Regulation (EU) 2022/2065. |
| (105) | In order to ensure high quality recycling in the battery supply chain, boost the uptake of quality secondary raw materials and protect the environment, there should be high rates of waste battery collection and recycling. The collection of waste batteries is a fundamental crucial step in the recovery of valuable materials present in batteries through their recycling and in keeping the battery supply chain in the Union, boosting the Union’s strategic autonomy in this sector. Such recycling thus also facilitates access to materials recovered that can be used to manufacture new products. |
| (106) | Producers should be responsible for financing and organising the separate collection of waste batteries. They should do so by establishing a take-back and collection network and related information campaigns that cover the whole territory of each Member State. Such networks should be close to the end-user and should not only target areas and batteries where collection of waste batteries is profitable. The collection network should include distributors, authorised treatment facilities for waste electrical and electronic equipment and end-of-life vehicles and civic amenity sites, and, on a voluntary basis other actors, such as public authorities and schools. In order to verify and improve the effectiveness of the collection network and related information campaigns, regular compositional surveys at least at NUTS 2 level, which is provided for in Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council (29) should be carried out on mixed municipal waste and waste electrical and electronic equipment collected to determine the amount of waste portable batteries therein. |
| (107) | It should be possible for waste batteries to be collected together with waste electrical and electronic equipment, by way of national collection schemes set up on the basis of Directive 2012/19/EU and with end-of-life vehicles in accordance with Directive 2000/53/EC. In such cases, as an obligatory minimum treatment requirement, batteries should be removed from the collected waste appliances and end-of-life vehicles. After having been removed from the collected waste appliances and end-of-life vehicles, batteries should be subject to the requirements of this Regulation. In particular, such waste batteries should be counted towards the attainment of the collection target for that category of battery and be subject to the treatment and recycling requirements laid down in this Regulation. |
| (108) | Considering the environmental impact and the loss of materials due to waste batteries not being separately collected, and consequently not being treated in an environmentally sound way, the collection target for waste portable batteries established under Directive 2006/66/EC should continue to apply and should be gradually increased. In view of the current increase in sales of LMT batteries and the fact that they have a longer lifetime than portable batteries, it is appropriate to set a specific collection target for waste LMT batteries, separate from the collection target applicable to waste portable batteries. Due to the expected development of the market for LMT batteries and portable batteries and increase in their expected lifetime, the methodology for calculating and verifying collection targets should be reviewed in order to better ascertain the actual volume of waste LMT batteries and waste portable batteries available for collection. Therefore, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 TFEU should be delegated to the Commission in respect of amending such methodology and of amending the collection targets accordingly. It is crucial that a new ‘Available for collection’ methodology maintains or increases the level of environmental ambition with regard to the collection of waste LMT batteries and waste portable batteries compared to the existing methodology. Based on a Joint Research Centre study on alternative collection targets for waste portable and light means of transport batteries, it is estimated that a collection target for waste LMT batteries of 51 % by 31 December 2028 and 61 % by 31 December 2031, calculated on the basis of the quantities of LMT batteries made available on the market in a Member State, will correspond to a collection target for waste LMT batteries of 79 % by 31 December 2028 and 85 % by 31 December 2031, calculated on the basis of the quantities of LMT batteries available for collection in a Member State. The collection targets for waste portable batteries and waste LMT batteries should be reviewed. It should be possible for such review to also address the possibility of adding two sub-categories of portable batteries: rechargeable and non-rechargeable, with separate collection rates. The Commission should prepare a report to accompany those reviews. |
| (109) | In order to maximise collection and reduce safety risks, the Commission should assess the feasibility and potential benefits of establishing a deposit return system for batteries, in particular for portable batteries of general use. National and harmonised Union-wide deposit return systems should be taken into account in that assessment. |
| (110) | The collection rate of waste portable batteries should continue to be calculated on the basis of average annual sales in the preceding years to have targets proportionate to the level of battery consumption in a Member State. In order to best reflect changes in what is comprised in the portable batteries category, as well as in the lifetime and consumption patterns of batteries, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 TFEU should be delegated to the Commission to amend the methodology for calculation and verification of the collection rate for waste portable batteries, as well as for waste LMT batteries. |
| (111) | The obligation on Member States to adopt measures concerning the achievement by producers and, where appointed, producer responsibility organisations, of collection targets for waste portable batteries and waste LMT batteries, reflects the general principle that Member States are to ensure the effectiveness of Union law. |
| (112) | All waste SLI batteries, waste industrial batteries and waste electric vehicles batteries should be collected. For that purpose the producers of SLI batteries, industrial batteries and electric vehicle batteries should be required to accept and take back free of charge, all waste batteries for their respective category from end-users. Detailed reporting obligations should be established for all producers, waste management operators and waste holders involved in the collection of waste SLI batteries, waste industrial batteries and waste electric vehicles batteries. |
| (113) | In view of the waste hierarchy as established by Directive 2008/98/EC which prioritises prevention, preparation for re-use and recycling and in line with Directive 2008/98/EC and Council Directive 1999/31/EC (30), waste batteries collected should not be disposed of or be subject to an energy recovery operation. |
| (114) | Any permitted facility carrying out treatment of batteries should comply with minimum requirements to prevent adverse impacts on the environment and human health and to allow a high degree of recovery of materials present in batteries. Directive 2010/75/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (31) regulates a number of industrial activities involved in the treatment of waste batteries, for which it provides for specific authorisation requirements and controls reflecting best available techniques. Where industrial activities relating to the treatment and recycling of batteries are not covered by Directive 2010/75/EU, operators should in any case be obliged to apply best available techniques, defined in Article 3, point (10), of that Directive, and the specific requirements laid down in this Regulation. The requirements in this Regulation regarding the treatment and recycling of batteries should, where relevant, be adapted by the Commission in the light of scientific and technical progress and emerging new technologies in waste management. Therefore, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 TFEU should be delegated to the Commission in respect of amending those requirements. |
| (115) | Targets for the efficiency of the recycling processes and recovery of materials should be established to ensure high quality of recovery of materials for the battery industry, while at the same time ensuring clear and common rules for recyclers and avoiding distortions of competition or other impediments to the smooth functioning of the internal market for secondary raw materials from waste batteries. Targets for recycling efficiency, as a measure of the total amount of materials recycled, should be established for lead-acid batteries, nickel-cadmium batteries, lithium-based batteries and other batteries. Targets for recovery of materials should also be established for cobalt, lead, lithium and nickel, in order to attain a high rate of recovery of materials throughout the Union. The rules on the calculation and reporting on recycling efficiency laid down in Commission Regulation (EU) No 493/2012 (32) should continue to apply. In order to ensure that the calculations and verifications of recycling efficiency and recovery of materials rates are accurate and reliable and ensure that there is greater legal certainty, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 TFEU should be delegated to the Commission to supplement this Regulation by establishing the methodology for calculation and verification of recycling efficiency and material recovery rates in the recycling processes for batteries and the format for the documentation on recycling efficiency and material recovery for waste batteries and on destination and yield of the final output fractions, in accordance with Part A of Annex XII. The Commission should also review Regulation (EU) No 493/2012 to properly reflect technological developments and changes in industrial recovery processes, to extend their scope to cover existing and new targets, and to provide tools for the characterisation of intermediate products. Treatment facilities should be encouraged to introduce certified environmental management schemes in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1221/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council (33). |
| (116) | It should only be possible to carry out treatment of waste batteries outside the Member State where the waste was collected or outside the Union, where the shipment of waste batteries is in compliance with Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council (34) and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1418/2007 (35) and where the treatment meets the requirements applicable for this type of waste, according to their classification in Commission Decision 2000/532/EC (36). That Decision should be revised to reflect all battery chemistries, in particular the codes for lithium-based waste batteries, in order to enable proper sorting and reporting of such waste batteries. This Regulation is without prejudice to the possible classification of waste batteries as hazardous waste under Directive 2008/98/EC. Where such treatment takes place outside the Union, in order to be counted towards the recycling efficiencies and targets, the waste management operator on whose behalf it is carried out should be obliged to report on that treatment to the competent authority of the Member State in which those waste batteries were collected and to prove that the treatment took place in conditions that are equivalent to those required under this Regulation and in line with other Union law regarding human health and environmental protection. In order to lay down what are the requirements for such treatment to be considered equivalent, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 TFEU should be delegated to the Commission to supplement this Regulation by laying down detailed rules containing criteria for the assessment of equivalent conditions. |
| (117) | In the event waste batteries are exported from the Union for preparation for re-use, preparation for repurposing, or recycling, Member States’ competent authorities should make effective use of the powers provided for in Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 to require documentary evidence to ascertain compliance with the requirements laid down in this Regulation. |
| (118) | It should be possible for industrial batteries and electric vehicle batteries that are no longer fit for the original purpose for which they were manufactured to be used for a different purpose as stationary energy storage batteries. A market for used industrial batteries and used electric vehicle batteries is emerging and in order to support the practical application of the waste hierarchy, specific rules should thus be established to allow responsible repurposing of used batteries while taking into account the precautionary principle and ensuring safety of use for end-users. Any such used battery should undergo an assessment of its state of health and available capacity to ascertain its suitability for a purpose other than its original purpose. Batteries that are found to be suitable for a purpose other than their original purpose should ideally be repurposed. In order to ensure uniform conditions for the implementation of requirements that waste industrial batteries, waste LMT batteries or waste electric vehicle batteries should fulfil to cease to be waste, implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission. |
| (119) | Producers and distributors should be actively involved in providing information to end-users concerning the mandatory separate collection of waste batteries and the availability of collection schemes. They should also inform end-users about the important role end-users have in ensuring the environmentally optimal management of waste batteries. Producers and distributors should make use of up-to-date information technology for the purposes of communicating information to all end-users as well as reporting on batteries. The information should be provided either by classical means, such as outdoor advertising, posters, through social media campaigns, or by more innovative means, such as electronic access to websites provided by QR codes affixed to the battery. Such information should be accessible for persons with disabilities in accordance with Directive (EU) 2019/882. |
| (120) | To enable the verification of fulfilment of and the effectiveness of the obligations regarding the collection and treatment of waste batteries, it is necessary for operators to report to the competent authorities. Producers of batteries and other waste management operators collecting waste batteries should report for each calendar year, where applicable, the data on batteries sold and waste batteries collected. Regarding treatment, reporting obligations should be imposed upon the waste management operators and recyclers respectively. |
| (121) | For each calendar year, Member States should provide the Commission with information on the amount of batteries supplied within their territory and the amount of waste batteries collected, by category and chemistry. With regard to waste portable batteries and waste LMT batteries data should be reported separately, allowing the respective collection targets to be adapted, considering the market share of such batteries and their specific purpose and characteristics. Such information should be provided electronically and be accompanied by a quality check report. In order to ensure uniform conditions for the reporting of those data and information to the Commission, as well as for the verification methods, implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission. |
| (122) | For each calendar year, Member States should report to the Commission the rates for recycling efficiency and recovery of materials achieved taking into account all the individual steps of the recycling process and the output fractions. |
| (123) | In order to enhance transparency along supply and value chains for all stakeholders, it is necessary to provide for a battery passport that maximises the exchange of information, enables tracking and tracing of batteries and provides information about the carbon intensity of their manufacturing processes as well as the origin of the materials used and whether renewable material, such as material produced from lignin to substitute graphite, is used, about composition of batteries, including raw materials and hazardous chemicals, about repair, repurposing and dismantling operations and possibilities, and about the treatment, recycling and recovery processes to which the batteries could be subject to at the end of their lifetime. The battery passport should provide the public with information about batteries placed on the market and their sustainability requirements. It should provide remanufacturers, second-life operators and recyclers with up-to-date information for the handling of batteries and specific actors with tailored information such as on the state of health of batteries. It should be possible for the battery passport to support market surveillance authorities in carrying out their tasks under this Regulation, but it should not replace or modify the responsibilities of market surveillance authorities, which should, in line with Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, check the information provided in battery passports. |
| (124) | Certain information in the battery passport should not be public, such as sensitive commercial information to which only a limited number of persons with a legitimate interest would need to have access. This applies to information on dismantling, including safety, and detailed information regarding the composition of the battery, which is essential for repairers, remanufacturers, second-life operators and recyclers. It also applies to information concerning individual batteries, which is essential to those who have purchased the battery or parties acting on their behalf for the purpose of making the battery available to independent energy aggregators or energy market participants, evaluating its residual value or remaining lifetime for further use, and facilitating the preparation for re-use, preparation for repurposing, repurposing or remanufacturing of the battery. Results of test reports should only be accessible to notified bodies, market surveillance authorities and the Commission. |
| (125) | The battery passport should allow economic operators to gather and re-use in a more efficient way the information and data on individual batteries placed on the market and to make better informed choices in their planning activities. Once the battery is placed on the market it might, in certain cases, be more practical for another legal person, such as a vehicle manufacturer, to update information in the passport. The economic operator that places the battery on the market should therefore be allowed to give written authorisation to any other operator to act on its behalf. The responsibility of compliance with the provisions for the battery passport should lie with the economic operator that places the battery on the market. In order to ensure uniform conditions for the implementation of the battery passport, implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission. |
| (126) | To ensure that the battery passport is flexible, dynamic and market-driven and evolves in line with business models, markets and innovation, it should be based on a decentralised data system, set up and maintained by economic operators. To ensure the effective roll-out of the battery passport, the technical design, data requirements and operation of the battery passport should adhere to a set of essential technical requirements. Such requirements should be developed hand-in-hand with those for digital product passports required by other Union law concerning eco-design for sustainable products. Technical specifications, for which the Commission’s Connecting Europe Facility principles for the eDelivery Network should be considered, should be established to ensure the effective implementation of those essential requirements, either in the form of harmonised standards for which the references are published in the Official Journal of the European Union or, as a fall-back option, in the form of common specifications adopted by the Commission. The technical design should ensure that the battery passport carries data in a secure way which respects privacy rules. |
| (127) | Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 lays down the general rules on market surveillance and control of products placed on the Union market or that enter the Union market from third countries. In order to ensure that batteries benefiting from the free movement of goods fulfil requirements providing for a high level of protection of public interests such as human health, safety of persons, protection of property and the environment, and to ensure full enforceability of the obligations, in particular relating to the battery due diligence policies, under this Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 should also apply to the batteries and economic operators covered by this Regulation. Therefore, Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 should be amended accordingly. |
| (128) | Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 requires market surveillance authorities to perform appropriate checks on the characteristics of products on an adequate scale. It confers powers on the Commission to adopt implementing acts to determine the uniform conditions for checks, criteria for determination of the frequency of checks and amount of samples to be checked in relation to certain products or categories of products. That conferral of powers also applies to the batteries covered by this Regulation where the conditions specified in Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 are met. |
| (129) | Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 introduced new instruments to improve compliance and market surveillance, which are also relevant to batteries. It provides for the Commission to designate a public testing facility of a Member State as a Union testing facility for specific categories of products or for specific risks related to a category of products. The Commission is to include the batteries covered by this Regulation in its next call for expression of interest for the designation of Union testing facilities pursuant to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1267 (37). Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 also provides that market surveillance authorities can carry out joint activities with organisations representing economic operators or end-users, with a view to promoting compliance, identifying non-compliance, raising awareness and providing guidance in relation to specific categories of products. That possibility should also be provided in relation to the requirements of this Regulation. In that context, Member States or market surveillance authorities might explore setting up battery competence centres. |
| (130) | Batteries should be placed on the market only if they do not present a risk to human health, safety of persons, property or the environment when stored and used for their intended purpose, or under conditions of use which can be reasonably foreseen, that is, when such conditions of use could result from lawful and readily predictable human behaviour. |
| (131) | A procedure should exist under which interested parties are informed of measures intended to be taken with regard to batteries that present a risk to human health, safety of persons, property or the environment. Such a procedure should also allow market surveillance authorities in the Member States, in cooperation with the relevant economic operators, to act at an early stage in respect of such batteries. In order to ensure uniform conditions for the implementation of this Regulation, implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission in order to determine whether national measures in respect of non-compliant batteries are justified or not. |
| (132) | The market surveillance authorities should be allowed to require an economic operator to take corrective action if they find either that a battery is not compliant with the requirements of this Regulation or that an economic operator has infringed the rules on the placing or making available on the market of a battery, or on sustainability, safety, labelling and information or on supply chain due diligence. |
| (133) | Public procurement constitutes an important sector with regard to reducing the impacts on the environment of human activities and to stimulating market transformation towards more sustainable products. Contracting authorities, as defined in Directives 2014/24/EU (38) and 2014/25/EU (39) of the European Parliament and of the Council, and contracting entities as defined in Directive 2014/25/EU should take account of the environmental impacts when procuring batteries or products containing batteries and should ensure effective compliance by the economic operators with social and environmental requirements, in order to promote and stimulate the market for clean and energy-efficient mobility and energy-storage and thus contribute to the environment, climate and energy policy objectives of the Union. |
| (134) | When adopting delegated acts under this Regulation, it is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level, and that those consultations be conducted in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making (40). In particular, to ensure equal participation in the preparation of delegated acts, the European Parliament and the Council receive all documents at the same time as Member States’ experts, and their experts systematically have access to meetings of Commission expert groups dealing with the preparation of delegated acts. |
| (135) | The implementing powers that are conferred on the Commission by this Regulation should be exercised in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council (41). |
| (136) | The advisory procedure should be used for the adoption of an implementing act in situations where the Commission ascertains that a notified body does not meet the requirements for its notification, in order to request the notifying authority to take the necessary corrective action, including withdrawal of the notification if necessary. |
| (137) | The Commission should adopt immediately applicable implementing acts determining whether a national measure taken in respect of a compliant battery that presents a risk is justified or not where, in duly justified cases relating to the protection of human health or the safety of persons, or the protection of property or the environment, imperative grounds of urgency so require. |
| (138) | Member States should lay down rules on penalties applicable to infringements of this Regulation and ensure that those rules are implemented. The penalties provided for should be effective, proportionate and dissuasive. When imposing penalties, it is important that due regard be given to the nature, gravity, scope, intentional nature and repetition of the infringement and the level of cooperation of the natural or legal person held responsible with the competent authority. The imposition of penalties is to comply with Union and national law, including with applicable procedural safeguards and with the principles of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. |
| (139) | In view of the need to ensure a high level of environmental protection and the need to take into account new developments based on scientific facts, the Commission should submit to the European Parliament and to the Council a report on the application of this Regulation and its impact on the environment and the functioning of the internal market. The Commission should include, in its report, an evaluation of the provisions on sustainability, safety, labelling and information criteria, the waste batteries management measures and the supply chain due diligence requirements. Where appropriate, the report should be accompanied by a proposal to amend relevant provisions of this Regulation. |
| (140) | It is necessary to provide for sufficient time for economic operators to fulfil their obligations under this Regulation, and for Member States to set up the administrative infrastructure necessary for its application. The application of this Regulation should therefore also be deferred to a date where those preparations can reasonably be finalised. |
| (141) | In order to allow Member States to adapt the register of producers set up under Directive 2006/66/EC and to take the necessary administrative measures regarding the organisation of the authorisation procedures by the competent authorities, while keeping continuity for economic operators, Directive 2006/66/EC should be repealed as of 18 August 2025. Obligations under that Directive related to monitoring and reporting the collection rate of portable batteries should remain in force until 31 December 2023, and the related obligations for the transmission of data to the Commission should remain in force until 30 June 2025, obligations under that Directive related to monitoring and reporting the recycling efficiencies of recycling processes should remain in force until 31 December 2025, and the related obligations for the transmission of data to the Commission should remain in force until 30 June 2027, in order to ensure continuity until new calculation rules and reporting formats are adopted by the Commission under this Regulation. |
| (142) | It is important that, in the implementation of this Regulation, environmental, social and economic impacts be considered. Moreover, in order to ensure that there is a level playing field, it is important that, in the implementation of this Regulation, all relevant available technologies are equally taken into consideration, provided that those technologies allow for full compliance of batteries with any relevant requirement set out in this Regulation. Furthermore, no excessive administrative burden should be imposed on economic operators, in particular on small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). |
| (143) | Since the objectives of this Regulation, namely to contribute to the functioning of the internal market and to prevent and reduce the adverse impacts of batteries and waste batteries to ensure a high level of protection of human health, safety of persons, property and the environment, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States but can rather, by reason of the need for harmonisation, be better achieved at Union level, the Union may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article, this Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve those objectives, |