Hallmarking and the withdrawal
of Commission proposals
13. The Commission's witnesses were not able to answer
our questions about a proposal relating to hallmarking,[13]
probably because it is not included in the Commission's own Programme
for 2004. The proposal is the draft Precious Metals Directive
of 1993 (amended in 1994), which would threaten the UK's hallmarking
system. As the Commission notes, the main problem in reaching
agreement in this area is the divide between countries with a
hallmarking tradition and those which rely instead on "a
manufacturer declaration combined with market surveillance".
No progress had been made since 1998, but the recent Italian
Presidency decided to revive the proposal and place it on the
agenda of the Competitiveness Council of 27-8 November 2003.
However, the Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER)
concluded that sufficient progress had not been made for it to
be discussed and requested the Presidency and Commission "to
consider along which lines further possible discussion at the
working group level could lead to a compromise".[14]
Progress on this unwelcome proposal seems unlikely under the
current Irish Presidency, since Ireland has a hallmarking system.
14. This raises the wider question of the failure
of the Commission to withdraw draft legislation which is not making
progress. Unless draft legislation is withdrawn, any Presidency
can take it up again, as in the hallmarking case, whereas new
legislation would require the Commission to exercise its right
of initiative. It does the reputation of the EU's legislative
system no good to have long-dormant proposals taken up again years
later at the whim of the current Presidency, and for the organisations
and individuals whose interests might be damaged to have the prospect
of such legislation hanging over them indefinitely. We call
on the Commission to withdraw the Precious Metals Directive, and
urge the Government to press for its withdrawal, and for rules
providing that the Commission's legislative proposals lapse if
no progress has been made on them within a specified period.
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