Date of release : 19-01-2005

Policy area : Competitiveness (Internal market, Industry and Research) Competitiveness (Internal market, Industry and Research)

Event : Joint speeches to the European Parliament on new REACH regulation

On Wednesday, 19 January 2005, a public hearing was held at the European Parliament in conjunction with three European Parliament committees: environment, industry and internal market. The topic was the new legislation on chemicals – REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals).

The Luxembourg ministers responsible to the Council for the dossier, Jeannot Krecké and Lucien Lux (ministers for the economy, foreign trade and the environment) took part in the hearing. They assessed the current status of the regulation project and announced the priorities for its advancement under the Luxembourg Presidency.

The European Commission was represented by Mr Günter Verheugen, EU Commissioner for Enterprise and Industry, and Mr Stavros Dimas, EU Commissioner for the Environment.

This was also an opportunity for the parliamentary groups and interested parties to express their points of view on this complex project. Basically, the aim is to improve the competitiveness and the innovative spirit of industry with regard to protecting the environment and public health.

The European Union wishes to modernise its legal framework on chemical products by establishing this unique integrated system for the registration, evaluation and authorisation of chemicals.

The Presidency of the Council and the Commission congratulated Parliament for having taken the initiative of bringing together all the actors in this process. In addition, the Presidency emphasised the importance of continuing the extensive exchanges with the parliamentary commissions for this dossier in a bid to reach a timely political agreement.

The Luxembourg ministers announced the continuation of the tasks of the ad-hoc working group to the Council. They also announced the organisation of a small working session to be held in Luxembourg on 10 and 11 May. A political debate on the REACH dossier will be held at the “Competitivity" and “Environment" Council meetings on 6 and 24 June respectively.