Negotiators from the European Parliament and the EU Council, assisted by the Commission, failed to reach agreement on Tuesday 18 December in Brussels on the proposal to recast the EU regulation on persistent organic pollutants (POPs), chemicals that are extremely harmful to human health used in agriculture and industry.
The purpose of the recast is to align the Regulation with the Lisbon Treaty and the 2015 and 2017 amendments to the Stockholm Convention to eliminate the production, use and export of POPs. It also provides for the transfer of certain tasks (see EUROPE 12159) from the Commission to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA).
The trilogue negotiating meeting, which the Austrian Presidency hoped could be concluded, came up against comitology rules. "It didn't fall that far short. The failure is due to questions of ‘internal matters’," according to a diplomatic source.
Indeed, it is impossible for negotiators to agree on the nature of the procedure to be chosen - delegated or implementing acts - to amend this legislation and its annexes in the future with a view to adding substances or amending the maximum permitted concentration limits.
On Wednesday, no one yet knew whether the file would be forwarded to the future Romanian Presidency of the Council or whether a final attempt at agreement would still take place under the outgoing Austrian Presidency. There may not be time for the latter. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)