What has happened so far?
(Updated on 12 September 2007)
In October 2003 the European Commission presented its proposal for a new EU chemicals regime. Unfortunately, it already included many concessions to the chemical industry and consequently has been strongly criticized by environmental, health, women’s and consumer groups for the lack of protection for human health and the environment. The REACH proposal then started to go through the political examination and decision-making by the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers which is necessary prior to becoming law (or being rejected entirely). During this examination, the proposal can be changed, and new suggestions can be offered (in the Parliament these are known as amendments, in the Council these are termed Member State positions). There are two rounds or ‘readings’ in this decision-making process, which is explained further below. REACH is currently nearing the end of the second round – please see below for more detail.
Co-decision in the European Union
In the European Union, the political decision-making process which a proposed law has to undergo depends on the subject of that law. REACH is subject to the type of process that is called the ‘co-decision procedure’. In this procedure, Parliament and the European Council share legislative power. They each read and discuss the legislation in several interacting steps which allow them to react to each other’s opinions. The co-decision procedure is as follows:
1. The Commission puts forward its proposal;
2. The proposal goes to the European Parliament (EP) for a first reading;
3. The Council adopts a common position. If they accept the text from the
EP first reading REACH becomes law.
4. If the Council instead rejects the text from the EP first reading and
proposes its own version, the EP goes for a second reading in which the
vote requires absolute majority to pass. If the EP rejects the text, the
legislation will not be adopted, If the EP vote does not pass with an absolute
majority, the Council Common Position is the ‘default’ result
that is passed.
5. The Council then either accepts the EP second reading text with a qualified
majority (then the procedure jumps to step 7) or sends it to a conciliation
process in which the Council and the EP together reconcile their positions;
6. EP and Council agree in conciliation;
7. Ministers sign the agreed legislation.
If conciliation fails, the proposal falls, and the Commission will have to draft a new proposal.
REACH was adopted through agreement between the Parliament and Council in Second Reading.
Procedure for the Second Reading
The Parliament accepted the Council’s Common Position in September
2006, which terminated the first reading. The second reading must take place
within a very strict timetable. Both Parliament and the Council have only
3 months each (with a single month’s extension if necessary) to reach
their positions. The Commission must also give its opinion on the Common
Position during this time. In addition, the types of changes that the Parliament
can make to the Council Common Position is limited by rules which specify
that changes can only address matters already taken up in the first reading.
Officially, in Parliament, only the lead committee (the Environment, Public
Health and Food Safety Committee) is involved in proposing changes. The
two committees with enhanced status from the first reading (Industry and
Internal Market) are not officially involved. In practice, however, there
is some precedent for committees with enhanced status having some role in
the second reading. This role may be via the issuance of opinions, or via
the rapporteurs (the Parliamentarian responsible for the committee’s
report) participating in the discussions both amongst the political groups
in the lead committee, and between the Parliament and Council. This would
be determined by an agreement amongst the rapporteurs of the three Committees,
and their chairpersons.
Parliament
First Reading
In the Parliament, REACH is subject to a process called ‘enhanced-cooperation’.
The lead committee - Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, had to
take into account the opinions of nine other committees which looked at
those parts of REACH that fell in their ‘area of exclusive competence’.
Two of those committees: ‘Industry, Research and Energy’; and
‘Internal Market and Consumer Protection’, had so-called enhanced
status, which meant that the lead committee had to give their opinions special
consideration. The seven other committees issuing opinions were Budget;
Economic and Monetary Affairs; Employment and Social Affairs; Women’s
Rights and Gender Equality; Legal Affairs; International Trade; and Petitions.
Details of the 1st reading Plenary vote, on November 17, 2005, can be found
[here].
Second Reading
The Rapporteur for the lead Committee, Sacconi, presented his recommendations
for the second reading before the summer break (read
more). The Environment Committee then held two debates on REACH, and
voted on amendments to the Council Common Position, on October 10, 2006.
The Committee voted to retain many of the positions established in its first
reading, finding that the Council Common Position did not adequately address
its concerns on several subjects. With a majority of votes for his report,
Sacconi obtained a strong mandate for the next steps (please see What’s
Happening Now). For more details on the vote, please see (ChemSec
Analysis, Vote
Result)
Council
Two Council configurations are responsible for REACH – the Competitiveness Council and the Environment Council (attending the meetings are the Member State ministers for industry, and ministers for the environment). The Council was under the Presidency of the United Kingdom at the close of the first reading, when they agreed their political position on December 13, 2005. The official version, the Council Common Position, was formally issued in June 2006 and presented to the European Parliament in September 2006. Details on the December 2005 political agreement can be found [here].
During the second reading, the Council has been under the Presidency of Finland. The Council has made presentations to the Environment Committee in Parliament, and conducted internal discussions both prior to and following the October 2006 Environment Committee vote. Please see What’s Happening Now.
As mentioned above, REACH was adopted through agreement between the Parliament and Council in Second Reading, with final adoption on 18 December 2006.
The regulation entered into force on 1 June 2007.
Downloads
Download the REACH text (pdf, 1,7 MB)
Facts and controversial issues 2006 (ppt, 1,26MB)
Report:
Implications of
REACH for developing countries
(pdf, 1MB)
Les implications de REACH pour
les pays en développement
(pdf, 1,4MB)