MIL-OSI Europe: Written question – Competitive impacts of Regulation EU 2023/1115 on European producers of latex balloons – E-002122/2025

Question for written answer  E-002122/2025
to the Commission
Rule 144
Salvatore De Meo (PPE), Marco Falcone (PPE), Giusi Princi (PPE), Massimiliano Salini (PPE), Flavio Tosi (PPE), Stefan Köhler (PPE), Niels Geuking (PPE), Tomáš Kubín (PfE), Olivier Chastel (Renew), Malika Sorel (NI)

Regulation (EU) 2023/1115[1] imposes traceability, registration and verification obligations on all operators placing on the market raw materials listed in Annex I, including natural rubber latex (customs code 4001), which is used by European producers of latex balloons.

Although they contain the same raw material (customs code 9503), finished latex balloons are not included in Annex I and are not subject to the same obligations, thus favouring non-EU producers who export these items to Europe without bureaucratic burdens.

This regulatory disparity distorts competition, placing European producers at a disadvantage, subject to higher costs and obligations, and incentivising the import of finished products from countries not subject to the same environmental standards.

Article 34 of the Regulation provides for a revision of Annex I, with the possibility of including products made from relevant raw materials, in order to avoid market imbalances and ensure the effectiveness of the standard.

We ask the Commission:

• 1.when the impact assessment provided for in Article 34(3) of the Regulation will be available, and whether it will also include finished products, such as latex balloons (CN code 9503), among those subject to the obligations;
• 2.whether it intends to adopt corrective measures, including through delegated acts, to ensure a level playing field between European and non-European producers?

Submitted: 27.5.2025

• [1] Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 May 2023 on the making available on the Union market and the export from the Union of certain commodities and products associated with deforestation and forest degradation, OJ L 150, 9.6.2023, p. 206., ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/1115/oj.