The delays in the European Commission’s preparation of decisions on the authorisation of dangerous chemical substances, highlighted by the European Ombudsman in October 2024 (see EUROPE 13508/6), are not the result of “alleged leniency (...) towards applicants”, the European Commission clarified on 31 January.
Also criticised for its lack of transparency regarding the REACH Committee’s deliberations, the European Commission has said it is “ready to review its approach to the REACH Committee’s minutes in order to provide the public with more detailed information”.
On delays. The first explanation for this delay is the considerable increase in the number of applications for authorisation, explained the Commission. That’s “10 to 20 decisions” adopted each year, at the start of the system in 2014, for “more than 90 authorisation decisions” prepared in 2024.
In response to the Ombudsman’s suggestion that it should refuse applications for authorisation that do not demonstrate that the conditions for authorisation under the REACH regulation have been met, in particular because of incomplete dossiers, the Commission pointed out that a “swift refusal in such cases (fulfilling the requirements for an authorisation), would certainly end up in legal challenges”. Differences between Member States within the REACH Committee have also led to delays in decisions on authorisations.
While the Commission acknowledges that it has not been able to meet the legal deadlines set out in the REACH regulation, it considers that the Ombudsman’s recommendations are not necessarily the best to address the existing difficulties and that others have already been implemented to tackle the problem.
To see the Commission’s response: https://aeur.eu/f/feo (Original version in French by Florent Servia)