The Commission’s priority in the revision of the REACH regulation, announced for the end of 2025, is “speeding up procedures and simplification”, reiterated European Commission Vice-President Stéphane Séjourné during his structured dialogue on Tuesday 13 May with the European Parliament’s Committee on Environment.
Simplification will involve “fewer individual authorisations and more global restrictions to improve clarity and speed”, warned the European Commissioner, who no longer wants to leave companies “waiting nearly 21 months before using a substance”. In particular, this acceleration will involve providing the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) with “better resources”.
The revision of REACH will have to combine “the imperatives of public health, the competitiveness of our companies and our political objectives of decarbonisation”, summed up Mr Séjourné.
Some of the objectives presented “contradict each other” noted Peter Liese MEP (EPP, German), who said, for example, that it would not be possible “to raise the level of ambition of REACH if we want to decarbonise the petrochemical industry”. He also opposed “a broad ban” on substances, followed by the approval of possible exceptions. In his words, “we need to act in a very targeted way from the outset”.
Christophe Clergeau (S&D, French) and Majdouline Sbai (Greens/EFA, French) also pointed out contradictions, but called for guarantees in terms of environmental protection and human health. If the Commission wants to move quickly, why is it considering “adding an additional administrative procedure before protective measures are taken”, said the French MEP, referring to the stage of analysis of regulatory management options recommended by the industry.
For his part, César Luena (S&D, Spanish) called on the Commission to “set firm conditions for the chemical industry package to promote decarbonisation and detoxification of the sector”. (Original version in French by Florent Servia)