The Juncker Commission is walking on eggshells to fulfil 2017 commitments on endocrine disruptors. After the obstacles encountered in defining the criteria, it limited itself, on Wednesday 7 November, to launching a review of the current legislation to assess the relevance of a common framework.
The Communication, which is only 12 pages long, responds to the commitment made in 2017 to work on a new strategy to "reduce as much as possible the exposure of EU citizens to endocrine disruptors", chemicals substances that interfere with the hormonal system causing harmful effects on health and the environment. It replaces the EU's 1999 strategy on endocrine disruptors.
As we announced the day before, the document is relatively evasive, merely preparing the ground for the next Commission (see EUROPE 12131). In this way, it launches an intersectoral health check to determine whether "applicable European legislation on endocrine system disruptions achieves its overall objective of protecting human health and the environment by minimising exposure to these substances". The Communication specifies that this exercise will pay particular attention to areas where legislation does not contain specific provisions concerning endocrine disruptors such as toys, cosmetics and materials in contact with food. However, no timetable has been put forward. "The idea is to finalise this exercise as quickly as possible in order to prepare the ground for the next Commission", explains a European source, recalling that such an exercise involves drafting a roadmap, working documents and organising several consultations.
The rest of the Communication announces the organisation of an annual forum on endocrine disruptors and the creation of an online one-stop shop on the issue. The Commission also includes a commitment to examine the possibility of including endocrine disruptors in the existing UN Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS). And to support the development of test guidelines at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) level.
At the time of the closure of this edition, only the European Consumers' Organisation (BEUC) had reacted to the communication, welcoming the publication of a long-awaited strategy. "BEUC expects that this strategy, while it only announces the EUs work in the years to come, will ensure that loopholes such as on EDCs in cosmetics, toys and food packaging are closed without delay”, the organisation reacted. See the text of the communication on page: https://bit.ly/2PLDqgz. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)