The EU Council and the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement on the ‘one substance, one assessment’ package on Thursday 12 June. The three texts concerned will aim to simplify EU rules on chemicals and make them more transparent.
The three proposals are as follows: a regulation establishing a common data platform on chemical substances; a regulation reallocating certain technical tasks and strengthening cooperation among European agencies; and a directive reassigning technical tasks to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA).
Creating the common data platform should facilitate access to data on the hazards of substances, their physico-chemical properties, their presence in the environment, their emissions, their uses and their environmental sustainability, said the European Parliament.
In particular, MEPs advocated a better estimate of EU citizens’ exposure to chemical substances through the systematic collection of data on the levels of chemicals found in the body (see EUROPE 13612/3). Parliament ensured that “safer alternatives to substances of concern“ are included in the database and that the addition of research data is encouraged.
In another step forward, the co-legislators agreed that the mechanism for early detection of warning signals on emerging chemical risks should be improved. “Data confidentiality and intellectual property rights” will be protected, explained Parliament’s rapporteur, Dimitris Tsiodras (EPP, Greek). (Original version in French by Florent Servia)