Directive 2001/81/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 23 October 2001 on national emission ceilings for certain atmospheric pollutants3 sets national ceilings for emissions of certain pollutants, including volatile organic compounds (hereinafter: ‘VOCs’), to be attained by 2010 as part of the Community's integrated strategy to combat acidification and ground-level ozone, but does not include limit values for emissions of those pollutants from specific sources.

In order to comply with the national ceiling for emissions of VOCs, Member States have to target a number of different categories of sources of these emissions.

This Directive complements measures taken at national level in order to ensure compliance with the ceiling for emissions of VOCs.

In the absence of Community provisions, legislation in the Member States imposing limit values for VOCs in certain categories of products might differ. Such disparities, together with the absence of such legislation in some Member States, would be liable to create unnecessary barriers to trade and distortion of competition within the internal market.

National laws and provisions which, for the purposes of combating ground-level ozone, establish limit values for the content of VOCs in the products covered by this Directive therefore need to be harmonised in order to ensure that they do not restrict the free movement of these products.

Since the objective of the proposed action, namely reducing emissions of VOCs, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States, because emissions of VOCs in one Member State affect air quality in other Member States and reductions of VOC emissions can therefore, by reason of the scale and effects of the action, be better achieved at Community level, the Community may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article, this Directive does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve this objective.

The VOC content of paints, varnishes and vehicle refinishing products gives rise to significant emissions of VOCs into the air, which contribute to the local and transboundary formation of photochemical oxidants in the boundary layer of the troposphere.

The VOC content of certain paints and varnishes and vehicle refinishing products should therefore be reduced as much as is technically and economically feasible taking into account climatic conditions.

A high level of environmental protection requires the setting and achievement of content limit values for VOCs used in products covered by this Directive.

Provision should be made for transitional measures for products produced before the requirements of this Directive come into force.

Member States should be able to grant individual licences for the sale and purchase for specific purposes of products in strictly limited quantities which do not comply with the solvent limit values established by this Directive.

This Directive complements Community provisions on the labelling of chemical substances and preparations.

The protection of the health of consumers and/or workers and the protection of the working environment should not fall within the scope of this Directive, and measures taken by Member States for these purposes should therefore not be affected by this Directive.

Content limit values need to be monitored in order to determine whether the mass concentrations of VOCs found in each category of paints, varnishes and vehicle refinishing products covered by this Directive are within the permitted limits.

As the VOC content of products used for certain vehicle refinishing activities are now regulated under this Directive, Council Directive 1999/13/EC of 11 March 1999 on the limitation of emissions of volatile organic compounds due to the use of organic solvents in certain activities and installations4 should be amended accordingly.

Member States should, nevertheless, be able to maintain or introduce national measures for the control of emissions from vehicle refinishing activities involving the coating of road vehicles as defined in Council Directive 70/156/EEC of 6 February 1970 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the type-approval of motor vehicles and their trailers5, or part of them, carried out as part of vehicle repair, conservation or decoration outside of manufacturing installations.

This Directive should not apply to products sold for exclusive use in installations authorised according to Directive 1999/13/EC where emission limiting measures provide alternative means of achieving at least equivalent VOC emission reductions.

The Member States should lay down rules on penalties applicable to infringements of the provisions of this Directive and ensure that they are implemented. Those penalties should be effective, proportionate and dissuasive.

Member States should report to the Commission on the experience gained in the application of this Directive.

A review should be made both of the scope for reducing the VOC content of products outside the scope of this Directive and the possibility of further reducing the VOC limit values already provided for.

The measures necessary for the implementation of this Directive should 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 Commission6,