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Press Release
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Press Release
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Five years of legislation process in the EU to ban toxic chemicals: Verheugen's competitiveness agenda fatally poisons REACH Brussels, 13 th February 2006 - On the fifth anniversary of the launch of the "White Paper on the Strategy for a future Chemicals Policy", it is clear that the development of EU's draft legislation on Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH) has been gravely hindered. Aleksandra Kordecka, chemicals campaigner for Friends of the Earth Europe in Brussels, said: "Ironically, as some five-year-olds who happened to be victims of chemical contamination, the development of REACH has not only been hampered, but reversed by the EU Industry and Enterprise Commissioner, Günter Verheugen". Five years ago, the Commission's White Paper on REACH set out a strategy that was meant to "balance the essential need to protect human health and promote a non-toxic environment with the requirement to maintain and enhance innovation and the competitiveness of the EU chemical industry" (1). It was a once-and-for-all strategy designed to address the problems of chemical contamination and ensure that public health and the environment are at the forefront of EU policy-making. "But the chemical industry and Commissioner Verheugen have been extremely effective in destroying the legislation," Kordecka charged. - What five years ago started as " a step-by-step approach to phase out and substitute the most dangerous substances " (1) today means that most chemicals that cause cancer, accumulate in our bodies and in our environment and affect our ability to reproduce are likely to remain on the market and further harm public health and the environment. - What five years ago was supposed to "improve access to information on chemicals and increase the transparency of the decision making process" (1) today means that the industry is still allowed to keep the consumer in the dark about the chemicals in the products they buy. - Finally, what used to be seen as the most fundamental element of REACH - the provision of safety data for some 30 000 chemicals on the market - is today no more than an empty shell as very little data will have to be provided for chemicals produced in low volumes. This will prevent the development of risk management strategies. Kordecka continued: "The 13 th of February is a very sad day. Instead of celebrating the fifth anniversary of the launch of the most progressive system of chemicals management in the world, we continue to face the muscle of the chemicals industry prevailing over public health and environmental protection". "REACH's wicked stepfather - EU Industry and Enterprise Commissioner Günter Verheugen - has been slowly poisoning this draft legislation in the name of Europe's ill-defined Competitiveness Agenda. As a result, the current REACH draft is weak - as if suffering from cancer, a disease often linked to the presence of dangerous chemicals in the environment," she added. Time is running out to save REACH and make sure it delivers the expected benefits for health and the environment. The European Parliament will give its opinion on REACH in a second reading in October, followed by the Council of Ministers. Friends of the Earth demands that:
If those demands are not addressed REACH may not only become a lost opportunity, but a threat to human health and the environment. Contact: Aleksandra Kordecka, Chemicals Campaigner, Friends of the Earth Europe, tel. +32 (0) 498 505 165 Notes: (1) European Commission "White Paper on the Strategy for a future Chemicals Policy" 13 th February 2001.
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