EuChemS Newsletters

Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability

Setting the new standards

The Motion for Resolution (MfR) is a starting point on the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability, which is one of the pillars of the Green Deal. In this regard, the new Sustainable Chemicals strategy should be coherent with and complementary to the other policy objectives of the Green Deal such as Circular Economy 2 Action Plan, and part of the framework of the Industrial Strategy and EU Beating Cancer Plan.

With this MfR the Parliament calls the Commission to come forward with the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability based on the following key priority: to upgrade the level of protection of the consumers and the environment. For example, the Parliament is asking for elimination of risks and/or hazardous substances and substitution to safer alternatives when feasible and calls the Commission to take into account the risk posed from endocrine disruptors and the combination effect of different chemicals.

In addition, we should promote a science-based grouping approach complimentary with the ‘’one substance one assessment’’ principle. Grouping is an important approach to assess families as a whole and facilitate the industry by upgrading the protection of the consumers.

Our target is to set up global safety standards for all chemicals produced, imported, and used within EU. In this regard, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) could support the EU’s international trade policy by defining provisions and fostering regulatory systems built upon EU standards for chemical safety.  This would enhance protection beyond the EU’s borders and extend the level playing field.

The Strategy should also ensure that unnecessary animal tests are avoided, incentivising the development of smart testing strategies and Artificial Intelligence (AI) methods.

Last but not least, the Strategy should also be aligned with the two main aspects of the Green Deal, “green” and “digital”. In this regard, we fully support ECHA’s initiative to promote the establishment of a fully connected and interoperable EU chemical safety database platform to facilitate seamless sharing of data between authorities and provide public access to researchers, regulators, industry and the citizen at large.

Maria Spyraki
 Member of the European Parliament