The European Commission is seeking feedback on its roadmap for a new EU chemical strategy, a regulatory milestone that signals its ongoing commitment to tackling hazardous chemicals during the coronavirus Covid-19 crisis.
The roadmap, which sets an objective to deliver the EU's 'chemicals strategy for sustainability' in the third quarter of 2020, is now open for comment until 20 June.
The Commission is developing the strategy under its flagship Green Deal environment programme, which cements the zero-pollution ambition for a toxic-free environment with further measures in the pipeline for next year.
The chemicals strategy will include long-awaited changes to legislation to "rapidly reflect" scientific evidence on the risk posed by endocrine disruptors, hazardous chemicals in products including imports, combination effects of different chemicals and very persistent chemicals.
The call for feedback comes as many regulatory deadlines, projects and meetings have been pushed back across the world as authorities prioritise work to support the response to Covid-19, and amid concerns the EU strategy would suffer a similar delay.
The Commission says, on the contrary, the pandemic "increases the urgency to step up action" on chemicals.
Essential chemicals
By ploughing ahead with the strategy and increasing the protection of citizens' health, it hopes to also stimulate Europe's social and economic recovery after the crisis, and promote its "strategic autonomy" for essential chemicals.
The pandemic has put the bloc's dependency on imports of critical chemicals used in medicines and disinfectants in the spotlight, and Europe needs to strengthen its capacity to produce chemicals "in a sustainable and competitive way", the Commission's roadmap says.
"We must not accept health crises to be used as an excuse to lower our ambitions" for a more sustainable and greener future, said environment commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius in an address to the European Parliament's environment committee (Envi) today.
As part of the chemicals strategy, the Commission will review "how to use better" the EU’s agencies and scientific bodies to move towards a process of ‘one substance – one assessment’ and to provide greater transparency when prioritising action on chemicals.
It will also promote research and development for the transformation of industry and the creation of "green and sustainable" manufacturing capacity.
Other key challenges relate to the need to address the "complexity, consistency and pace" of procedures for assessing and managing chemicals, better enforcement and more incentives for the production of safer chemicals.
NGOs have recently stated their ambitions for the strategy, calling on leaders to safeguard environmental standards amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Green Deal
In a separate address to MEPs on 8 May, executive vice-president Franz Timmermans also reasserted the Commission's commitment to the Green Deal, saying it still believes it is the "best growth strategy for Europe".
The economic crisis caused by the pandemic would lead to a "huge investment gap", he told the industry, research and energy committee, warning that the choices companies face as they restructure their businesses "will become more complicated".
The Commission will need to prioritise projects that have the most tangible and immediate effect on the economic recovery, with construction and automotive among those to be targeted for investments, he said.