N° 71 / December 2018
eu
ECODESIGN
Final draft Regulations published
for consultation.
Following on from the update in
the last edition of this Newsletter,
a public consultation has been
opened on both the Ecodesign
and Energy Labelling Regulations
for refrigerating appliances with
a direct sales function i.e.
refrigerated vending machines.
These now ‘final draft’
Regulations have been amended
since the previous drafts
commented on by the EVA, with
mixed results overall. Some of
our change suggestions and
proposals have been adopted,
while others have not yet been
clarified.
In what should be seen as a clear
lobbying success, drum or
carousel machines have now
been removed from both
Regulations. This is excellent
news as the EVA had grave
concerns on the future viability
of this machine category if the
Regulations had proceeded as
previously drafted. Although
undoubtedly a niche machine
category, drum machines still
fulfil an important role
particularly in the provision of
plated meals and larger or
irregular-shaped items.
The EVA will be pushing once
again in this final consultation for
technical changes and
improvements we would like to
see made, in order to ensure
www.vending-europe.
clarity for manufacturers and
consistency with for example the
linked EN50597 standard.
The Energy Labelling
consultation ends on 17th
December, and the Ecodesign
consultation ending on 26th De-
cember. The expected
timeframes for adoption (Q1
2019) and implementation
(January 2020) remain the same
as previously communicated.
PACKAGING
Commission proposes 100%
plastic cup ban; negotiations
continue.
The Negotiations between the 3
main EU institutions (‘Trialogues’)
are continuing on the proposed
single use plastic Directive.
After the second trialogue
meeting on 28 November,
rumours had been circulating in
Brussels that the EU Commission
proposed a compromise which
would see beverage cups made
of 100% plastic banned.
Unfortunately, these rumours
can now be confirmed and the
proposal will consequently be
discussed/decided at the next
trialogue on 18 December.
The EVA understands that due
to certain positions taken by the
parliament and particularly the
Council, the Commission wishes
this change made to the Directive
in order to ensure the ‘ambition’
of the legislation is maintained.
It is apparently particularly
worried that the coherence of the
single market could be affected if
too much flexibility is permitted
for member states to set their
own restrictions and policies with
regards to impacted products,
which could well differ
completely from state to state.
The EVA is writing to the
Austrian Presidency of the
Council to press home our
concerns with this latest
development, but it must be
noted that the EU appears
determined to make this dossier
as stringent as possible, and that
factual industry arguments are
consequently often not
considered. Indeed, some
industry associations in Brussels
are quite pessimistic about the
outcome of the negotiations, and
are just working to ensure
further packaging products are
not added to the product lists.
DRINKING WATER
Drinking Water Directive
revision; negotiations continue
on update.
Following the same legislative
process to the single use plastics
Directive above, the Drinking
Water Directive revision is
currently being discussed in
the Council of the EU (Member
States), with Environment
Minsters scheduled to debate it
on 20 December. The European
Parliament has already decided
its position on the Commission
proposed, which was published
N° 71 / December 2018 www.vending-europe.eu

in February this year.

Once the Council has decided a

common position, the institutions
will enter trialogue negotiations
to find a compromise, aiming for
agreement in the early part of
2019, in order for the dossier to
be approved before the
parliament elections in May.

You may recall that the EVA is

part of the European Drinking
Water forum, which lobbies for
harmonised testing standards for
water contact materials across
the EU single market.