History and process
17. The REACH Proposals can be traced back to an
informal Environment Council of Ministers meeting held at Chester
under the UK Presidency of the EU in April 1998. The meeting led
to a review by the European Commission of the EU legislative framework
for the management of chemicals. The Commission's report to EU
Environment Ministers at the end of 1998 identified as the main
issue the backlog of existing substances for which information
about their potential to cause harm to the environment and human
health was not available. The Commission held a "brainstorming"
meeting with stakeholders: regulators, scientists, industry, environmental
and consumer NGOs, and representatives from applicant countries
- in February 1999.[12]
In June 1999 Environment Ministers called on the Commission to
consider measures that provide an efficient and integrated design
of the various legal instruments for chemicals; place the main
responsibility on industry for generating and assessing data;
provide a more flexible approach to risk assessment with the aim
of targeting assessments; and establish effective risk management
strategies for certain chemicals that may cause threats of serious
or irreversible damage to human health or the environment as a
result of their inherent properties by giving appropriate weight
to their use pattern and the possibility of exposure. The resultant
work was conducted jointly by the Environment and Enterprise Directorates-General.
18. The result was a proposed chemicals policy detailed
in a White Paper discussion document, entitled Strategy for
a future Chemicals Policy, published in February 2001.[13]
A White Paper is traditionally used by the European Commission
to launch new policy initiatives. It may suggest changes to existing
legislation or the introduction of new legislation, but it creates
no legal obligations. The White Paper was considered by the House
of Lords European Union Sub Committee D. Its report, published
in February 2002, concluded that it was "unrealistically
overambitious" and that combining new and existing chemicals
in a single regime was unnecessary and would be "extremely
complicated and contentious".[14]
19. Following the White Paper, the Commission developed
a draft text for new legislation, which was posted on the internet
for an 8-week public consultation in May 2003. The Commission
presented its final Proposals for a Regulation on REACH in October
2003 alongside an Extended Impact Assessment it had conducted.
20. It is intended that the REACH Proposals enter
EU law as a Regulation rather than a Directive. This means that
the legislation will be directly binding on Member States and
the only national legislation required will be to amend or repeal
incompatible domestic legislation. The use of this legal instrument
has in general been seen as necessary in order to achieve uniform
application, legal certainty and the smooth running of the internal
market.[15]
21. The Proposals will now be passed over to the
scrutiny of the European Parliament and the Council, following
the co-decision procedure. The first reading in the European Parliament
and the Council is likely to take place in autumn 2004. The co-decision
procedure, by which legislation is adopted both by the Parliament
and the Council, is now underway and a working group of officials
from Member States has begun to consider the Regulation in detail.
It is expected that the European Parliament will return to this
after the June 2004 elections. It is possible that the Council
may agree a common position during the UK Presidency in the second
half of 2005, with the conciliation process with the European
Parliament to follow. The European Council of Ministers has agreed
that it will be led by the Competitiveness Council. In the European
Parliament it has now been agreed that the process will be handled
jointly by three Committees: Environment, Industry and Legal Affairs.
The Government suggests that Registration will begin in 2008-9.[16]
Lobbying positions
22. Three principal lobbying groups on REACH can
be identified as follows:
a) The chemical industry. While the REACH
principles are generally accepted, there are major concerns about
the workability of the Proposals and their impact on the industry's
competitiveness. The UK Chemical Industries Association (CIA)
has been active, alongside its European equivalent, CEFIC (European
Chemical Industry Council).
b) Environmental NGOs. These have been enthusiastic
about the approach of the legislation but have expressed concerns
that too many concessions are being made to industry. WWF has
taken the lead; Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth have also
been active.
c) Animal welfare groups. Their principal concerns
have been the increased animal testing required by the Proposals.
They see the legislation as an opportunity to replace existing
tests with non-animal alternatives. This is perhaps a bigger concern
in the UK than elsewhere in the EU and the British Union for the
Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) has given the legislation a lot
of attention.
Other interested parties have been downstream businesses,
retailers and the EU's trade partners. The scientific community
has also expressed its views, notably the Royal Society of Chemistry.
12 European Commission, Strategy for a future Chemicals
Policy, COM(2001) 88 final, February 2001, pp 2-3 Back
13
European Commission, Strategy for a future Chemicals Policy, COM(2001)
88 final, February 2001 Back
14
Thirteenth Report of the House of Lords European Committee, Session
2001-02, Reducing the Risk Regulating Industrial Chemicals, HL
81 Back
15
DEFRA, UK Consultation paper on the New EU Chemicals Strategy
- REACH, March 2004, para 17 Back
16
DEFRA, UK Consultation paper on the New EU Chemicals Strategy
- REACH, March 2004, para 44 Back
