Enforcing EU chemicals policy: the multi-level pursuit of zero tolerance. EIPA paper May 2021.

Klika, Christoph (2021) Enforcing EU chemicals policy: the multi-level pursuit of zero tolerance. EIPA paper May 2021. UNSPECIFIED.

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Abstract

The adoption of the REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) regulation in 2006 was considered a paradigm change in EU chemicals policy. REACH introduced new instruments for regulating chemical substances and created the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA). These instruments shifted the responsibilities of risk assessment and management to private actors, i.e., manufacturers, importers, producers and downstream users of chemical substances. To complement these self-regulatory instruments, REACH includes several provisions to strengthen enforcement. In recent years, chemicals policy, including REACH and other legislation, has undergone extensive reviews. This briefing presents the most important problems of non-compliance that have been found in these reviews. It first gives an overview of the multi-level enforcement, which involves the agency, a network of national authorities and, most importantly for ensuring compliance, the enforcement authorities in the Member States. The briefing then presents the measures proposed in the Chemicals Strategy and discusses the continuing challenges of ensuring compliance.

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