The European Commission has decided to abandon the rule that would limit the marketing of the following products, or at least abandon the ‘sine die’ rule. chemical products affecting human health. As announced by the College of European Commissioners this Tuesday by the European Environment Bureau (EEB), which consists of more than 180 environmental organizations on the continent. Exclusion of long-awaited reform of the REACH Regulation from the Commission’s 2024 work program It is chemical products that regulate such compounds and their use by consumers. This decision of the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, “Serious breach” of commitments According to BEV, official obligations contracted by the Commission in recent years.
According to Tatiana Santos, head of the EEB’s Chemical Products Policy, the decision amounts to “a real betrayal of citizens”. “The Commission is failing to fulfill its own commitments, turning a blind eye to chemical pollution and Condemning Europeans to continue being exposed to countless toxic substances for years condition that science has clearly linked to numerous negative health outcomes. It is clear that for the Commission the short-term benefits of the toxic industry are more important than the health of Europeans. The European Green Deal will be remembered as the European Toxic Deal.”
Accumulated delays and now cancellation
The Commission’s proposal to review the REACH Regulation was due to be submitted before the end of 2022. However, pressure from the chemical industry caused this to be postponed. It was first postponed to the spring of 2023 and then to the fourth quarter of 2023. Finally, Ursula von der Leyen, now President of the European Commission, has removed it from the current Commission’s plans. With European elections due in 2024, the future of reform will depend on the next Commission, creating uncertainty and unpredictability about its future, according to environmental groups.
Carlos de Prada, responsible for the Poison-Free Home initiative, a Spanish organization that cooperates with the EEB in disseminating this issue, stated: “Unfortunately, citizens often barely know what is going on in the corridors of the bureaucracy in Brussels. Although these are very important issues and this EU policy seems far away, but The toxins we are exposed to are not just around us, they are already inside our own bodies.. And the Commission’s decision will not fully help make us pollution-free.”
REACH is the main regulation that aims to protect European citizens against the risks of chemicals to which they are exposed. According to EEB, “Its reform was necessary and urgent because it was a very incomplete norm. “This did not serve to properly stop the serious chemical contamination we were exposed to.”
Chemicals dangerous to humans
Proof of this are the findings of the scientific community, for example, and among many others, the recent contributions of the European Human Biomonitoring Initiative (HBM4EU). “Alarmingly high” chemical exposure to multiple hazardous substances in large segments of the general European population, even above concentrations associated with serious disease.
Over the past decade, the European Commission has identified a number of serious loopholes in REACH, to the point of proposing the need to reform it within the scope of the Sustainability Strategy on Chemical Substances in 2020. It was also recognized that consumers are widely exposed to chemicals used in a wide variety of everyday products. From toys and child care products to food packaging, from cosmetics to furniture and textiles, among others.
The commission had already purchased a series Explicit commitments that can now be violated according to BEV. These included banning the use of the most harmful substances in consumer products. It was planned to accelerate the analysis and regulation processes of chemical substances, as they are currently very slow.
“Meanwhile, Tens of thousands of substances that are improperly treated and unregulated remain in circulation, “It may cause harmful effects in many people,” this European organization says.
A new step back on environmental issues
The refusal to consider this regulatory reform was followed by further decisions aimed at softening regulations on key environmental issues in the European Union, on the eve of next year’s European Parliament elections.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called a meeting last month to address “excessive regulatory burden” under pressure from the domestic chemical industry, while German liberals from the FDP, a member of the country’s tripartite coalition government, called for a “regulation pause”. ” of the European Green Deal at the beginning of October 2023.
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