Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-11-15-Speech-2-157"
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"en.20051115.25.2-157"2
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".
Mr President, I would like to begin by thanking the Members of this Parliament for their hard work on REACH, and in particular the key committees and their members. It is an honour to be invited here to speak on behalf of the UK Presidency.
A key part of this proposal, of course, is the authorisation stage. REACH requires any substance of very high concern to be banned unless a strong case for authorisation is made justifying its continued use. In the Council, we have clarified the scope and have strengthened the authorisation provisions to provide a greater drive towards substitution.
The compromise proposal retains the possibility of a first authorisation based solely on adequate control – that is, you can continue to use a hazardous substance if you can demonstrate that the risks are contained. But – and it is a big ‘but’ – adequate control must be tightly defined. It is now tighter in our proposal. It is clearer. It is right that all decisions should be made on a case-by-case basis. Therefore, an amendment has been introduced in our proposal to require all authorisations to be subject to a review. This would enable further consideration of the availability of alternatives in the future. In addition, substitution has been further encouraged in our proposal by the requirement to provide an analysis of possible alternatives. I look forward to the opinion from Parliament.
If I have not managed to persuade you of the vital importance to all the citizens of Europe of securing an early agreement on REACH, then I have failed. I hope I have been able to give you an insight into the discussions taking place in Council.
For our part, we will continue working in our role as the Presidency to do all we possibly can to get agreement this year. We believe we can. We look forward to receiving the contribution of the European Parliament.
Let me repeat, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Let us not throw it away.
Firstly, I would like to emphasise that REACH is a very important dossier for the UK Presidency. This legislation offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to achieve proper protection for humans and the environment while at the same time being workable and maintaining the competitiveness of European industry. We all want to find a good solution on REACH, one that both enhances protection of public health and the environment and maintains industrial competitiveness. This objective can only be attained with the cooperation of all Member States, the European Parliament and stakeholders. REACH will feature strongly at the Competitiveness Council on 29 November, where we plan to hold a serious and substantive policy debate, so your views will be important in feeding into that. We recognise that we are very close to a deal, and we still intend to achieve political agreement before the end of the UK Presidency.
I am heartened by the commitment shown by the European Parliament in having its first reading this week. We welcome the work done by the rapporteurs to achieve a balanced and workable compromise on the key aspect of REACH, namely registration. The main elements of this compromise, co-signed by the three main political groups, are very close to the ideas that the Council is working on. Therefore, adoption of a European Parliament opinion along these lines should pave the way for an early adoption of REACH. This would be good news for the environment and for industry, bringing an end to uncertainty, and indeed good news for everyone. It would finally provide a more effective system for managing the risks presented by chemicals in order to protect human health and the environment.
The Presidency’s compromise text aims to represent a balanced consideration of the views expressed by Member States in the discussions to date. It acknowledges the concerns of industry and meets them. It maintains the objectives of REACH in the field of protecting human health and the environment. We look forward to taking on board contributions from the European Parliament once you have completed your considerations. In explaining the direction the Presidency is taking I hope to further inform this debate.
Let me start at the beginning, with registration. The challenge for us all is to agree a registration package that collects the information necessary to assess the risks. At the same time it must be proportionate. We must avoid forcing companies to provide data just for the sake of it. We all share the same concerns and want to ensure REACH does not adversely impact on small firms.
The following number among our shared proposals on registration: firstly, having a single pre-registration phase to simplify the procedure; secondly, requiring data sharing through ‘one substance, one registration’. This could deliver savings of up to EUR 600 million. We have also introduced flexibility by proposing clear criteria for companies to opt out of submitting a joint information package. It is generally accepted that the sharing of animal test data should be mandatory. However, to simplify the system, the sharing of non-animal data has been made mandatory only if requested by a potential registrant.
Like Parliament, the Council is concerned about the impacts on small firms. To reduce these impacts, a proposal for targeted information requirements for low volume substances has been put forward. Below ten tonnes, a full data set only needs to be provided on a substance if it meets simple criteria identifying it as high risk. Under this approach, not as much information will be provided about the substances as in the original Commission proposal, but it does mean that we can apply a simplified risk-based approach for the 20 000 low volume substances, and focus on those of concern in the first instance. In order to reduce the burden on industry, and particularly on small firms, the Chemicals Agency will provide tools to facilitate the submission of data.
We have reduced the cost of registration in the higher 10-100-tonnage band by removing an expensive test from the data requirements. This led to a saving of around EUR 80 million. In addition, the ability to waive certain tests under Annex VI has been strengthened to minimise the burden for testing at the higher tonnage bands. I want to emphasise that this can be done in a way that still delivers the necessary information about the hazards and risks of substances.
I now turn to evaluation. Here the registration is checked for compliance or referred for further scrutiny. The compromise text gives the Chemicals Agency, based in Finland, a more central role in this phase of REACH. We want to ensure that evaluation is carried out more efficiently and consistently across the EU and that the Agency has the tools and resources to ensure this happens. Again, I do not think that the Council’s position is too far from that of Parliament on this. A similar approach has been taken in the reports from the parliamentary committees which have given their opinion."@en1
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