In a judgment delivered on Thursday 20 April (Case C-144/21), the Court of Justice of the European Union annulled the European Commission’s implementing decision [C(2020) 8797] which granted, at the end of 2020, an authorisation for certain uses of chromium trioxide under the ‘REACH’ regulation (1907/2006) governing the authorisation of chemical substances in the EU.
The Court of Justice, hearing an application by the European Parliament in this case, followed the recommendations of its Advocate General (see EUROPE 13052/27). In particular, it believes that the Commission authorised uses of chromium trioxide on the basis of an ‘insufficient’ assessment of their risks to human health. The EU institution did not demonstrate that the socio-economic benefits outweighed the risks to the environment or to the health of workers exposed to the substance, as required by the ‘REACH’ regulation.
According to the European judge, the Commission also failed to verify that there were no suitable alternatives for the authorised use categories (2, 4 and 5) of chromium trioxide.
Nevertheless, in the interests of health protection, the Court decided to maintain the effects of the annulled decision for a period not exceeding one year from the date of delivery of this judgment.
See the Court’s judgment: https://aeur.eu/f/6eh (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)