COMMISSION DECISION
of 6 June 2011
on establishing the ecological criteria for the award of the EU Ecolabel for light sources
(notified under document C(2011) 3749)
(Text with EEA relevance)
(2011/331/EU)
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 66/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2009 on the EU Ecolabel (1), and in particular Article 8(2) thereof,
After consulting the European Union Eco-labelling Board,
Whereas:
(1)
Under Regulation (EC) No 66/2010, the EU Ecolabel may be awarded to those products with a reduced environmental impact during their entire life cycle.
(2)
Regulation (EC) No 66/2010 provides that specific EU Ecolabel criteria are to be established according to product groups.
(3)
Commission Decision 2002/747/EC (2) has established the ecological criteria and the related assessment and verification requirements for light bulbs. Those criteria are valid until 31 August 2011.
(4)
Those criteria have been reviewed in the light of technological developments. In the light of the review, it is appropriate to modify the definition of the product and to change the name of the product group. Those new criteria, as well as the related assessment and verification requirements, should be valid for 2 years from the date of adoption of this Decision.
(5)
Decision 2002/747/EC should be replaced for reasons of clarity.
(6)
A transitional period should be allowed for producers whose products have been awarded the Ecolabel for light bulbs on the basis of the criteria set out in Decision 2002/747/EC, so that they have sufficient time to adapt their products to comply with the revised criteria and requirements. Producers should also be allowed to submit applications based on the criteria set out in Decision 2002/747/EC or on the criteria set out in this Decision until the lapse of validity of that Decision.
(7)
The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee established by Article 16 of Regulation (EC) No 66/2010,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
Article 1
1. The product group ‘light sources’ shall comprise all light sources of a luminous flux ≥ 60 and ≤ 12 000 lumens for general lighting applications with direct or indirect connection to the public electricity supply equipped with a lamp cap listed in EN 60061 and made in order to produce a visible radiation.
2. The following types of light sources are not included in the product group: directional lamps, high-intensity discharge lamps, coloured lamps, projector lamps, photographic lighting, solarium tubes, battery driven systems and other light sources that are not intended for general lighting applications. The following types of light sources are not included in the product group if they are not supplied directly from the mains: integral compact fluorescent lamps, filament lamps, LED lamps.
Article 2
In order to be awarded the EU Ecolabel under Regulation (EC) No 66/2010, an item of light source shall fall within the product group ‘light sources’ as defined in Article 1 of this Decision and shall comply with the criteria as well as the related assessment and verification requirements set out in the Annex to this Decision.
Article 3
The criteria for the product group ‘light sources’, as well as the related assessment and verification requirements, shall be valid for 2 years from the date of adoption of this Decision.
Article 4
For administrative purposes the code number assigned to the product group ‘light sources’ shall be ‘008’.
Article 5
Decision 2002/747/EC is repealed.
Article 6
1. By derogation from Article 5, applications for the EU Ecolabel for products falling within the product group ‘light bulbs’ submitted before the date of adoption of this Decision shall be evaluated in accordance with the conditions laid down in Decision 2002/747/EC.
2. Applications for the EU Ecolabel for products falling within the product group ‘light sources’ submitted from the date of adoption of this Decision but by 31 August 2011 at the latest may be based either on the criteria set out in Decision 2002/747/EC or on the criteria set out in this Decision.
3. Those applications shall be evaluated in accordance with the criteria on which they are based.
4. Where the EU Ecolabel is awarded on the basis of an application evaluated in accordance with the criteria set out in Decision 2002/747/EC, that EU Ecolabel may be used for 12 months from the date of adoption of this Decision.
Article 7
This Decision is addressed to the Member States.
Done at Brussels, 6 June 2011.