N° 72 / Januar y 2019
eu
ECODESIGN & ENERGY
LABELLING
Final legislative steps revealed
for Regulations.
Following the EVA’s response to
the public consultation made just
before Christmas on the draft
Ecodesign and Energy Label-
ling Regulations for refrigerated
vending machines, the
definitive legislative schedule has
now been published.
Member State experts will vote
on the (presumably) revised
Regulations on 29-30 January,
followed by a 3 month period
for the European Parliament and
Council to raise any objections.
If none received, after these 3
months, the Regulations will be
deemed officially approved and
enter force.
The process confirms the EVA’s
view that the consultation was
the last opportunity to provide
input and suggestions to the
dossiers; something we believe
has been convincingly made with
respect to vending.
The EVA is hoping that the final
versions will be able to be ac-
cessed as of the end of January,
and will thereafter be
communicating comprehensively
on the impact and requirements
these Regulations will place on
our industry in the coming years.
www.vending-europe.
PACKAGING
New national measures proposed
to restrict certain single use
plastics.
It appears that a growing
number of countries are
beginning to propose
requirements which will either
restrict or ban certain plastic
packaging, even ahead of the fi-
nal approval and implementation
of the EU Directive on Single Use
Plastics – a dossier which has
been extensively covered in this
Newsletter over the last months.
This month for example we have
seen the Irish government
announce that single use
plastics (including beverage
cups) are now banned from
being purchased in all
government departments and
buildings, while the region of
Valencia in Spain has proposed
that coffee capsules should be
banned by 2020, unless made
from recycled materials.
Regarding the later development,
the Spanish Vending Association
(ANEDA) is currently lobbying
the authorities.
These two developments show
that national bodies are not
waiting until the EU Directive is
approved before announcing
proposals and measures. The
EVA believes that measures
against single use plastics will
continue to be increasingly
announced throughout 2019,
and it will be crucial for the EVA
and national associations to fight
to ensure the measures are
appropriate and do not unfairly
impact the vending sector.
HEALTHIER VENDING
Decision to ban sale of energy
drinks in vending machines in
Romania.
The main provisions of the
legislative decision (2018/600/
RO) are to ban energy drinks in
the following circumstances:
• Selling energy drinks from
vending machines;
• Selling energy drinks to
persons under 18;
• Selling energy drinks in
healthcare facilities or in
schools (and within 50
metres of the entrance).
Selling energy drinks from
vending machines could lead
to a fine between 5,000 lei and
15,000 lei (approx. €1,000 –
€3,000).
This measure is clearly to en-
courage a move to healthier
vending, but unlike similar rules
in some other markets, the EVA
notes that this legislation also
covers the immediate periphery
of schools as well. The EVA
often argues that banning a
product from the school
environment is not that useful if
children can still avail of the
product literally at the school
gates. At least this Romanian
legislation seeks to avoid this.
N° 72 / Januar y 2019 www.vending-europe.eu

ACCESSIBILITY
European Accessibility Act in last
stages of approval.
Following the provisional
agreement reached between the
EU Institutions on the draft Act in
November, the European
Parliament is due to ratify the
legislative proposal by the end of
January.

As previously communicated, the

Act would put in place a
number of design requirements
for a range of products and
services – which now includes
payment terminals – to increase
accessibility for disabled
customers.

As accessibility requirements for

payment terminals were not
included in the original proposal,
the EVA is keen to see the exact
requirements in the final agreed
text, which is as yet available.