The French Presidency of the Council of the EU is organising a conference on chemicals, health and the environment on Wednesday 11 and Thursday 12 May in Paris to advance thinking and knowledge on the management of chemicals under the ‘One Health’ approach.
Bérangère Abba, the French Secretary of State for Biodiversity, reporting to the Minister for Ecological Transition, Barbara Pompili, will chair the ministerial meeting on 12 May, which will be preceded on 11 May by a technical meeting with experts, scientists and representatives of industry and civil society. About ten ministers will participate in the ministerial segment, but all Member States will be represented.
One of the objectives is to “be ready for battle to advance the future creation of an ‘IPCC’ for chemicals and biowaste” [modelled on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ed.], a French source said on Monday 9 May.
The future creation of such a body was approved at the 5th UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-5, 28 February-2 March) in Nairobi, where a mandate to negotiate a legally binding UN treaty on plastics was also agreed (see EUROPE B12902AA6).
The aim is to make this future IPCC operational in 2024.
Participants will also discuss the European Commission’s roadmap, published at the end of April, on restrictions/bans of chemical substances under REACH, prioritising groups of substances most dangerous to health and the environment, such as microplastics, PFASs and endocrine disruptors, with, where appropriate, exemptions for essential uses (see EUROPE 12938/4).
It will address research, substance evaluation, what essential uses are and the rate at which the most dangerous substances can be removed from the market.
The French Presidency hopes to adopt operational conclusions at a later stage. The aim is that at the EU Environment Council at the end of June, “the way forward will be mapped out”, according to the same source.
The conference will also establish links between the various levels of action as well as between the EU Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability, the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030 and the Farm to Fork Strategy (F2F).
Thursday will see the launch of the PARC initiative - the Partnership for the Assessment of Risks from Chemicals. PARC is one of the projects eligible for funding under the EU Framework Programme ‘Horizon Europe’ 2021-2027.
Coordinated by the French Health and Safety Agency (Anses), this partnership aims to develop a risk assessment of new generation chemicals to better protect health and the environment. It has a budget of €400 million, funded 50% by the EU and 50% by the Member States. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)