Council and Parliament strike deal for a stronger European Chemicals Agency 01:29 The Council of the European Union and the European Parliament have reached a provisional[...]

The Council of the European Union and the European Parliament have reached a provisional agreement on bolstering the management and funding of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA). The new rules will create a standalone legal framework to help ECHA manage its growing number of duties efficiently.

Since its establishment in 2006, ECHA and its scientific committees has been central to implementing the EU's rules on the registration, evaluation, authorisation and restriction of chemicals (REACH) providing technical and scientific assessments and opinions. ECHA's responsibilities have expanded to include product safety and environmental policy, including scientific opinions on restricting microplastics and PFAS.

Unifying ECHA's expanded mandate

The co-legislators agreed to consolidate ECHA's extended tasks and responsibilities under a single regulation, by decoupling the agency from the 2006 REACH regulation which had initially founded it. This unified and autonomous framework will provide a clear legal basis for ECHA's operations and facilitate its efficient governance. The new rules outline the specific tasks assigned to ECHA under different EU laws.

The agreement allows the European Parliament or member states to request scientific opinions from ECHA, after consulting with the Commission.

Strengthening ECHA's structure

ECHA's structure will be adapted to effectively manage its current and future workload, ensuring it has the necessary resources. To maintain the highest standards of scientific and technical expertise within the EU, the agreement provides for the necessary pool of experts to be nominated by member states and appointed to its risk assessment and socio-economic analysis committees.

Simplified budget and reserve fund

By unifying budgets (from three to a single and autonomous one), ECHA will have greater flexibility to independently allocate resources to efficiently adapt to changing workloads.

Recognising the challenges in accurately predicting income from fees and charges, the agreement establishes a reserve fund capped at 8% of ECHA's fees and charges in order to address fluctuations in fee revenues and its impact on ECHA's operations. The Commission may increase or decrease this percentage from 1% to 20%, to better reflect ECHA's actual financial needs.

Safeguarding credibility

Co-legislators acknowledged that trust and confidence in ECHA and its opinions and advice is vital. Therefore, they have established clear rules on preventing and managing conflicts of interest for its staff and experts, including members of its internal bodies, in order to ensure its independence and credibility.

Next steps

The provisional agreement will now be submitted to the European Parliament and the Council for formal adoption. Following adoption, the new regulation will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and will enter into force 20 days after its publication.

Background

ECHA plays a central role in implementing REACH and other key legislation related to chemicals, providing independent scientific advice and contributing to the protection of human health and the environment, while promoting innovation and competitiveness. ECHA manages the largest chemicals database in the EU, containing information on nearly 500 000 chemicals, including REACH registration data for more than 25 000 substances.

The consolidated rules, also known as the ECHA basic regulation, were proposed by the Commission as part of its action plan for the chemical industry.

• Timeline - EU Law Tracker
• Chemicals (background information)
• Action plan for the chemicals industry