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European Parliament vice president Martin Hojsík said he does not expect a full revision of the EU’s REACH chemicals regulation within the next one to two years, adding that interim changes via comitology are "needed and possible".
Speaking at the Chemical Watch News & Insight Regulatory Summit Europe conference on 20 April, Hojsík said that while the European Commission has been considering targeted amendments through comitology in recent months, a comprehensive revision of REACH will ultimately still be required.
"I believe that sooner or later there will be a need to look at REACH and learn how we can make it work better, including how we can better integrate sectoral legislation," he said.
Kristin Schreiber, director for chemicals, bioeconomy and retail at the Commission’s DG GROW, said last week that a full overhaul of the regulation would be a lengthy process. In contrast, targeted improvements could be delivered more quickly through comitology, though this route would address only certain aspects of the framework.
'Polarised' system
At the Brussels conference this week, Paul Speight, head of safe and sustainable chemicals at the Commission’s environment department, warned of growing resistance to scientific evidence in EU policymaking.
"The policy context has become very difficult, and we are working in a polarised system," Speight said, adding that debates are increasingly questioning established science.
He also pointed to broader mistrust among stakeholders, including within the Parliament, which is complicating efforts to reach compromises. "This has led to some quite difficult discussions on files such as the chemicals omnibus, although in the end we have found a way forward," he said.
The Parliament’s environment committee (ENVI) recently approved its position on the chemicals omnibus, which seeks to simplify parts of the cosmetics and CLP regulations. However, the vote had previously been delayed due to a lack of agreement among lawmakers.