On Thursday 23 October, the European Parliament approved the European Commission’s request to postpone the dates of application of the new European laws on the classification, labelling and packaging of chemicals, by 441 votes to 108, with 11 abstentions.
This postponement, proposed by the European Commission through what is known as the ‘stop-the-clock’ mechanism, is aimed at simplification and forms part of the ‘Omnibus VI’ legislation on chemicals, which was presented in July (see EUROPE 13676/11).
The revised regulations will apply from 1 January 2028.
The re-labelling deadlines, the rules on advertising, distance selling and labelling of fuel pumps, which were due to apply from 1 July 2026, and the provisions on mandatory requirements for formatting the list of provisions, which were due to come into force on 1 January 2027, are also amended.
In this way, the EU aims to reduce compliance costs and lighten the administrative burden for the chemical industry.
On Tuesday, MEPs voted in favour of the urgency procedure. The amendment to prevent postponement, tabled by the Green group, was largely rejected (93 in favour, 431 against and 7 abstentions).
“The Commission is lying when it claims that these simplification measures would guarantee the same level of protection, given the unravelling of the text that it has planned in parallel”, said Majdouline Sbai MEP (Greens/EFA, French), before adding that dangerous chemicals represent “a multiple threat to our health and our environment”.
The Council of the EU, which approved the same text on 24 September (see EUROPE 13716/36), still has to validate its entry into force by formal approval. (Original version in French by Florent Servia)