According to conservative lawmakers in the European Parliament, the REACH review originally promised in 2020 as part of the Commission’s chemicals strategy for sustainability, which aims for “a toxic-free environment” has now been permanently shelved.
An announcement was made by German chemical giant BASF that it would “permanently” scale back its operations in Europe due to rising energy costs and concerns over green regulations.
“We are happy that there is no date for REACH,” said Peter Liese, a German lawmaker from the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP), which fought – and lost – a high-profile battle this year in Parliament to kill the EU’s proposed Nature Restoration Law.
“We can interpret this that REACH will not be presented before the end of this mandate,” he told journalists at a media briefing.
Liese was speaking hours before a European Parliament vote that confirmed the appointment of Slovakia’s Maroš Šefčovič as the Commission’s new vice-president in charge of overseeing the EU’s environmental policies.
In a Parliament hearing, Šefčovič came under intense pressure from Green and left-wing lawmakers who asked him to provide a “concrete timeline” in writing for the adoption of key pending Green Deal legislative files before they could vote to approve him.
However, Šefčovič was evasive when it came to the REACH review, saying in his written responses that “preparations will continue” on the proposal. “The work on REACH is ongoing,” he told lawmakers earlier on Tuesday, saying the Commission was carefully examining all the different aspects of the review and would table its proposal “when it’s ready”.
The REACH revision is a sensitive topic for Commission President Ursula von der Leyen who faces accusations by campaigners of seeking to win the favours of conservative politicians in Germany by delaying the EU’s chemicals policy review.
The difficulties faced by the chemical sector have raised the alarm at the highest level of the German government, and campaigners fear von der Leyen will avoid rocking the boat further ahead of the European elections in June.
Asked by Euractiv, the European Commission declined to confirm whether REACH was now officially off the table or not.
“We currently have nothing to add to the explanations provided by Vice-President Šefčovič in his replies, both oral and written,” said Jahnz Adalbert, the Commission’s environment spokesperson.
“We are still expecting REACH to be put forward within this mandate,” said Tiemo Wölken, a German MEP who spoke on behalf of the socialist group at the Šefčovič hearing. “Of course, we can accept that more work needs to be done, but this should be finalised by the end of this year and we expect to see the Commission come forward with a proposal in Q1/2024,” he told Euractiv.
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