Article 1

The product group ‘hard coverings’ shall comprise — for internal/external use, without any relevant structural function — natural stones, agglomerated stones, concrete paving units, terrazzo tiles, ceramic tiles and clay tiles. For hard coverings, the criteria can be applied both to floor and wall coverings, if the production process is identical and uses the same materials and manufacturing methods.

Article 2

In order to be awarded the Community eco-label for products falling within the product group hard coverings under Regulation (EC) No 1980/2000 (hereinafter the eco-label), a hard covering shall comply with the criteria set out in the Annex to this Decision.

F1Article 3

The ecological criteria for the product group hard coverings and the related assessment and verification requirements shall be valid until 30 June 2021 .

Article 4

For administrative purposes the code number assigned to the product group ‘hard coverings’ shall be ‘021’.

Article 5

Decision 2002/272/EC is repealed.

Article 6

1.

Applications for the eco-label for products falling within the product group hard covering submitted before the date of adoption of this Decision shall be evaluated in accordance with the conditions laid down in Decision 2002/272/EC.

2.

Applications for the eco-label for products falling within the product group hard coverings submitted from the date of adoption of this Decision but by 31 March 2010 at the latest may be based either on the criteria set out in Decision 2002/272/EC or on the criteria set out in this Decision.

Those applications shall be evaluated in accordance with the criteria on which they are based.

3.

Where the eco-label is awarded on the basis of an application evaluated according to the criteria set out in Decision 2002/272/EC, that eco-label may be used for 12 months from the date of adoption of this Decision.

Article 7

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.