Brussels, 16/12/2015 (Agence Europe) - In a judgment returned on Wednesday 16 December (case T-521/14), the General Court of the EU found that the European Commission clearly breached EU law by failing to act against endocrine disruptors.
In this highly controversial dossier (see EUROPE 11319), the Commission stands condemned for having failed in the obligations incumbent upon it under the regulation (528/2012) on the making available on the market and use of biocidal products. The General Court found that the Commission had failed to abide by the “clear, precise and unconditional obligation” to adopt delegated acts by 13 December 2013 as regards the specification of the scientific criteria for the determination of the endocrine-disrupting properties. There is no justification for this delay, the General Court stressed.
The Commission has reacted to this judgment by highlighting its ongoing work on the impact assessment, work which is extremely complex and completely unprecedented, it explains. The first phase of this study is underway and the others will be launched in early 2016, with the aim of concluding the study in 2016 and “subsequently” adopting the delegated acts. However, the General Court found that a study of this kind was not a requirement of the regulation and this was by no means a justification for missing the deadline.
The Greens/EFA group at the European Parliament, the European Trade Union Confederation and the NGO PAN-Europe have all welcomed this judgment and called upon the Commission to create a framework as soon as possible for these chemicals, which may be harmful to human and animal health and the environment. (Original version in French by Jan Kordys)