Service contract for technical assistance to the Commission pertaining to exemptions l(a - e), l(f), 2(a), 2(b)(3), 2(b)(4), 3, 4(a), 4(b), 4(c), 4(e), and 4(f) of Annex III of Directive 2011/65/EU

Directive 2011/65/EU (RoHS 2) on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment stipulates that "electrical and electronic equipment placed on the market, including cables and spare parts for their repair, reuse, updating of their functions or extension of their capacity, shall not contain the substances listed in Annex II" (i.e. lead, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated diphenyl ether and, as of July 2019, bis(2-ethylhexyl phthalate), butyl benzyl phthalate, dibutyl phthalate and, as of July 2019 bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, butyl benzyl phthalate, dibutyl phthalate and diisobutyl phthalate). Article 5(1)(a) provides a basis for excluding certain applications from these provisions by including materials and components of electrical and electronic equipment for specific applications in the lists in Annexes III and IV. In the period between December 2014 and 21 January 2015, the Commission received requests for renewal of the exemptions in Annex III 1(a to e - lighting purposes), 1(f - specific purposes), 2(a), 2(b)(3), 2(b)(4), 3, 4(a), 4(b), 4(c), 4(e), 4(f). The applications were analysed in a study completed in 2016 and various recommendations were made. Based on various comments from the lighting industry, a further study was commissioned to assess in detail the socio-economic impact of lamp replacement in cases where a recommendation was made not to extend the validity of the exemptions or to grant only a short-term duration. The study to assess the socio-economic impact of substitution of certain mercury-containing lamps currently benefiting from the RoHS 2 exemption in Annex III was finalised in July 2019; a further revision was subsequently undertaken and published in 2020. The revision focussed on single-ended (compact) fluorescent lamps without integrated ballast (CFLni), double-ended linear fluorescent lamps (LFL) T5 and LFL T8.

Due to the delay in the process, in January 2020 the Commission received new requests for exemptions (and de facto replacements of previous requests) for mercury-containing lamps, including exemptions 1(a - e) and 2(a) covering CFLni, LFL T5 and LFL T8. The lighting industry had meanwhile also submitted some comments on the update of the socio-economic study published in 2020.

Due to the highly complex issues related to mercury-containing lamps and the large number of technical documents and questions submitted to the Commission by applicants, stakeholders, Member States and Members of the European Parliament, the Commission asked Oeko-Institut to provide continuous technical support during the decision-making process.