Klub ELS-ED v EP: REACH: V EP vznikl kompromis nad chemickou směrnicí

A consensus on the Chemicals Directive was reached today between the two major groups in the European Parliament, the EPP-ED Group, the largest political Group in the EP with 267 Members, and the Socialist Group. The Directive aims to regulate all chemical products in the EU. The EPP-ED spokesperson Ria Oomen-Ruijten MEP is very pleased with this result which was made possible by Internal Market rapporteur and negotiator Hartmut Nassauer MEP.

Ria Oomen-Ruijten said: "This unexpected agreement makes it possible to vote next week in the plenary session in Strasbourg with a large majority in the plenary. I call on the Council to adopt a common position which takes into account the broad consensus in Parliament", she added

REACH stands for "Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals". Its purpose is to establish a European regulatory framework for the registration, evaluation and authorisation of chemicals. There are currently around 40 European directives governing the sector. There is a lack of adequate information on the environmental and health impact of most of the 100,000 chemicals used in industry today.

The agreement of Hartmut Nassauer MEP and the rapporteur in the leading Environment Committee, Guido Sacconi MEP, was welcomed and confirmed in today's political Group meetings.

As the registration of chemicals was the most important part of the draft chemicals regulation, the compromise between the EPP-ED-Group and the PES Group offers the possibility of decisively influencing the future legislative development of REACH in the European Commission and Council through a broad majority in Parliament.

According to Mrs. Oomen-Ruijten, the Nasssauer/Sacconi compromise decisively changes the Commission proposal. It includes significant progress in environment and health protection concerning the use of substances and takes into account costs for industry and the competitiveness of the companies concerned. A significant improvement concerning the environment was the registration after a maximum of 11 years of all substances produced in a volume of 1 ton per year or more.

For substances produced in a volume between 1 to 10 tons per year, physical chemical data as well as all available and relevant information had to be provided for a risk assessment. In case a risk-based assessment would require so, demands for data could be increased. A report on the safety of substances had to be provided if existing data or the structure of substances showed a danger of substances contributing to the development of cancer or the modification of genes. For substances produced in a volume between 10 and 100 tons per year, the compromise would waive some very expensive tests, whilst further studies were dependent on a risk-based assessment.

The principle "One substance - one registration" (OSOR) would be included, with the compulsory sharing of information. However, criteria were created which would enable an opt-out for the data-sharing. Of particular importance to small and medium-sized users was that the information on substances would have to be delivered on the basis of categories for use and exposure, not on the basis of individual applications. "11 years after the new law comes into force we will have a much more detailed knowledge of chemical substances which are produced and used in our economy. At the same time the costs and bureaucratic procedures are kept within limits with regard to competitiveness", concluded Mrs Oomen-Ruijten MEP.