Directive 2008/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2008 amending Directive 98/8/EC concerning the placing of biocidal products on the market, as regards the implementing powers conferred on the Commission
Directive 2008/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Councilof 11 March 2008amending Directive 98/8/EC concerning the placing of biocidal products on the market, as regards the implementing powers conferred on the CommissionTHE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 95 thereof,Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social CommitteeOJ C 161, 13.7.2007, p. 45.,Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the TreatyOpinion of the European Parliament of 14 November 2007 (not yet published in the Official Journal) and Council Decision of 3 March 2008.,Whereas:(1)Directive 98/8/EC of the European Parliament and of the CouncilOJ L 123, 24.4.1998, p. 1. Directive as last amended by Commission Directive 2008/16/EC (OJ L 42, 16.2.2008, p. 48). provides that certain measures are to be adopted in accordance with Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the CommissionOJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23. Decision as amended by Decision 2006/512/EC (OJ L 200, 22.7.2006, p. 11)..(2)Decision 1999/468/EC has been amended by Decision 2006/512/EC, which introduced the regulatory procedure with scrutiny for the adoption of measures of general scope and designed to amend non-essential elements of a basic instrument adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 251 of the Treaty, inter alia, by deleting some of those elements or by supplementing the instrument with new non-essential elements.(3)In accordance with the statement by the European Parliament, the Council and the CommissionOJ C 255, 21.10.2006, p. 1. concerning Decision 2006/512/EC, for the regulatory procedure with scrutiny to be applicable to instruments adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 251 of the Treaty which are already in force, those instruments must be adjusted in accordance with the applicable procedures.(4)The Commission should be empowered to adopt common conditions on research and development, to adapt the annexes and to adopt the review programme. Since those measures are of general scope and are designed to amend non-essential elements of Directive 98/8/EC, inter alia, by supplementing it with new non-essential elements, they must be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny provided for in Article 5a of Decision 1999/468/EC.(5)Directive 98/8/EC should therefore be amended accordingly.(6)Since the amendments made to Directive 98/8/EC by this Directive are technical in nature and concern committee procedure only, they do not need to be transposed by the Member States. It is therefore not necessary to lay down provisions to that effect,HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE: