Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/864 of 4 June 2015 amending Regulation (EC) No 340/2008 on the fees and charges payable to the European Chemicals Agency pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) (Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), establishing a European Chemicals Agency, amending Directive 1999/45/EC and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 793/93 and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1488/94 as well as Council Directive 76/769/EEC and Commission Directives 91/155/EEC, 93/67/EEC, 93/105/EC and 2000/21/EC (1), and in particular Article 74(1) and Article 132 thereof,

Whereas:

(1) According to Article 22(1) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 340/2008 (2), the fees and charges provided for in that Regulation shall be reviewed annually by reference to the inflation rate as measured by means of the European Index of Consumer Prices as published by Eurostat pursuant to Council Regulation (EC) No 2494/95 (3).

(2) In consequence of this annual review, conducted in 2014, those fees should be adjusted in accordance with the applicable average annual inflation rate, as published by Eurostat, of 1,5 % for the year 2013.

(3) The adjustment of fees and charges is fixed at such a level that the revenue derived from those fees and charges, when combined with other sources of the Agency's revenue pursuant to Article 96(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, is sufficient to cover the cost of the services delivered.

(4) The Management Board of the Agency should, within the powers conferred to it by Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, continue monitoring the efforts pursued by the Agency for efficiency gains to achieve the best relationship between resources employed and results achieved. The Commission should have regard to the opinion of the Management Board when next reviewing the Agency's fees and charges according to Article 22(1) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 340/2008.

(5) Regulation (EC) No 340/2008 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(6) For reasons of legal certainty, this Regulation should not apply to valid submissions that are pending on the date of entry into force of this Regulation.

(7) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee established under Article 133 of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Annexes I to VIII to Regulation (EC) No 340/2008 are replaced by the text set out in the Annex to this Regulation.

Article 2

This Regulation shall not apply to valid submissions pending on the date of entry into force of this Regulation.

Article 3

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 4 June 2015.

For the Commission The President Jean-Claude JUNCKER

(1) OJ L 396, 30.12.2006, p. 1.

(2) Commission Regulation (EC) No 340/2008 of 16 April 2008 on the fees and charges payable to the European Chemicals Agency pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) (OJ L 107, 17.4.2008, p. 6).

(3) Council Regulation (EC) No 2494/95 of 23 October 1995 concerning harmonized indices of consumer prices (OJ L 257, 27.10.1995, p. 1).