Universal Restriction of PFAS – The European Chemicals Agency’s (ECHA) Committee for Risk Assessment (RAC) is scheduled to meet from March 3-7, 2025, for its 72nd session. During this meeting, the Committee will discuss the proposed restriction on PFAS, focusing on their use in fluorinated gases, transport, and energy sectors. The
EU PFAS Generic Restriction – Recently leaked documents from the Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) reveal that industry representatives are relying on legal opinions to push back against the planned regulations. A key argument is that the EU’s proposed restriction unfairly groups over 10,000 PFAS compounds together, assuming they all share the
Universal PFAS restriction – The last meetings of the Committees for Risk Assessment and Socio-Economic Analysis focused on PFAS restrictions in several sectors. Provisional conclusions were reached on restricting PFAS in construction products, textiles, upholstery, leather, apparel, carpets, and food contact materials and packaging. Future evaluations are planned for March 2025, with discussions on
The European Chemical Agency (ECHA) introduced new hazard classes into the classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures (CLP) Annexes Regulation back in December 2022 via Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/707.
The new classes, namely Endocrine Disruptors (ED), Persistent, Bioaccumulative and Toxic (PBT), very Persistent and very Bioaccumulative (vPvB), Persistent, Mobile and Toxic
European Union
Progress update on the Universal PFAS restriction proposal – The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), in collaboration with the five national authorities that submitted the PFAS restriction proposal, has issued an update on the progress of the proposal. This update indicates a refined approach that could allow certain uses of PFAS to be exempt
Our latest updates on Per- and Polyfluorinated Substances (PFAS) across Europe.
European Union
Designated Commissioners on PFAS: Jessika Roswall, designated Commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience, and a Competitive Circular Economy, and Stéphane Séjourné, designated Executive Vice-President for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy, will undergo candidate hearings in the EU Parliament before a confirmation vote. As
On 21 October 2024, the EU Ombudsman issued Recommendations in the context of her own-initiative investigation on ‘The risk management of dangerous chemical substances by the European Commission’ (Case OI/2/2023/MIK).
The inquiry, opened on 8 June 2023, investigates the Commission’s practices – notably its delays – in the examination of requests for
In response to questions raised by MEPs, Candidate Commissioners Stéphane Séjourné (see letter) and Jessika Roswall (see letter) presented their views on the upcoming Chemicals Industry package, announced by President Ursula Von der Leyen in her Political Guidelines.
Both candidates commit to the creation of a “more efficient regulatory framework”
The European Commission (EC) has published its Report on its 2023 Anti-Dumping, Anti-Subsidy and Safeguard activities. Along with the Report, the Commission has also shared a more detailed Staff Working Document.
Different trends emerge. First, EU trade defense activity was intense in 2023. In particular, the number of new investigations initiated by the EC