In a statement, the EU executive said it had “initiated infringement proceedings” against Portugal and also Slovakia, by sending a letter of formal notice to these EU countries for failing to transpose into their national legislation the European provisions on restricting the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment, under the law created on the use of materials such as lead, mercury and cadmium with standards to protect human health and the environment.

Specifically, the issue at stake is an exemption for cadmium and lead in plastic profiles in electric and electronic windows and doors that contain recovered rigid polyvinyl chloride, as there are also limited time-limited exceptions to the restrictions on the use of different substances.

This exemption is based on the plastic profiles of electric windows and doors, which are made of recovered polyvinyl chloride (PVC), which according to Brussels “safeguards a high level of environmental protection, allowing the recycling of used PVC material”.

The deadline for the adoption and publication of national transposition measures ended on 31 July 2024, but according to the institution, neither Portugal nor Slovakia communicated, a situation that gave rise to these letters of formal notice, to which the countries have two months to respond and complete the process.

“In the absence of a satisfactory response, the Commission may decide to issue a reasoned opinion”, the start of legal proceedings, Brussels states in the note.