On Wednesday 15 April, the European Parliament’s Environment Committee voted in favour of modernising the structure of the European Chemicals Agency and adapting its budget to its current remit.
The draft report by Christophe Clergeau (S&D, French) amending the European Commission’s proposal was adopted with 58 votes in favour, 4 against and 9 abstentions.
The nine compromise amendments negotiated by the rapporteur with other political groups were adopted, with a large majority ranging from The Left to the ECR group (with the exception of one compromise amendment not supported by the ECR group).
EPP and the ECR group had tabled amendments that would have weakened the independence and scientific value of ECHA’s opinions on restrictions, by giving virtually any stakeholder the right to request a review of ECHA’s opinions on the basis of certain criteria, as well as the possibility of appealing any ECHA decision not already covered by an appeal procedure in the sectoral legislation. In the end, these proposals did not feature in the compromises adopted, explained a European source.
The question of integrating the Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS), responsible for assessing the safety of cosmetics, into ECHA was discussed by MEPs. Some political groupings (EPP and ECR) wanted to maintain the specific features of this committee (different nomination process, chairmanship, term of office), while others wanted complete harmonisation with the other ECHA committees.
A balanced compromise has been reached: the SCCS is retaining its appointment process and a five-year term of office (compared with three for the other committees), while being fully integrated into ECHA’s governance structure, with a member of ECHA staff as chair.
Today’s vote “marks a decisive step towards a stronger and more coherent European chemicals policy”, commented Mr Clergeau. By strengthening ECHA, “we are not acting in isolation, but consolidating an essential piece of a jigsaw aimed at improving the management of chemicals throughout Europe. The aim is to better protect public health and the environment, while offering the industry the predictability it needs”, he told Agence Europe.
Link to the compromise amendments: https://aeur.eu/f/lk0 (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)