As reported on Wednesday afternoon by the news agency 'Women's Wear Daily', the European Commission may delay the review of REACH. Today, the European Commission presented its Work Programme 2024, and there was no reference to the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), the regulation that may affect the beauty sector.
During his closing remarks at Tuesday's plenary session of the European Parliament, Maroš Šefčovič, Vice-President of the European Commission, addressed issues such as REACH, which came into force in 2007 in the European Union. Its stated aim is to protect human health and the environment against the harmful effects of chemicals.
Šefčovič later clarified that if a proposal had already been announced and included in a previous Commission programme, there is no obligation to include it again in the current one. "It is there, it is foreseen and we are working on it," the Vice-President of the House said. On the Green Deal, which has the overall objective of making Europe the first climate-neutral continent, Šefčovič said that "there will be a relentless effort to keep the ambitions of the Green Deal at the highest possible level." The European Commission Vice-President explained that REACH, which is part of the Green Deal, as the world's most comprehensive chemicals legislation.
"Modifying REACH is a complex task," said Šefčovič. "Changes to the legislative framework would have to strike a complex balance, significantly reducing health hazards and environmental damage from chemical pollution, but also addressing chemicals of very high concern, while ensuring the availability of chemicals that are essential for key green transition technologies, ensuring a level playing field with our international competitors."
Šefčovič admitted that he does not rule out amending REACH during the next mandate: "Given the complexity of the dossier, it is possible that the amendment of REACH will have to be carried out in the next mandate. What we want to do is to prepare this dossier in great detail to make sure that we would complete all the necessary preparatory work and also to find the best possible timing for this proposal, which will take several years to be adopted: that it has the right momentum".
Animal welfare
On animal welfare, Šefčovič pointed out the importance of this issue in the European Commission and stressed that the Commission has been working to improve animal welfare for more than 40 years. "Animal welfare is and will remain a priority for the Commission," he said. In response to a European Citizens' Initiative, called "Save cruelty-free cosmetics - Let's commit to a Europe without animal testing", the Commission said it would present a new roadmap with legislative and non-legislative measures to further reduce animal testing. The aim is to ultimately move to a non-animal regulatory system under chemicals legislation, including REACH and the Plant Protection Products Regulation, and to continue to support alternatives to animal testing.