European Chemicals Agency and amending Regulations
PURPOSE: to establish an updated and improved legal framework for the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA).
PROPOSED ACT: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council.
ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council.
BACKGROUND: the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) was established in 2007 by Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 under the REACH Regulation to handle technical, scientific, and administrative tasks related to EU chemicals laws. Its role has since expanded to cover areas like biocides, classification and labelling, and drinking water. This has greatly increased ECHA's workload, with some scientific committees expected to double their opinions in coming years.
The proposed regulation contributes and facilitates the achievement of the objectives of the ‘One Substance, One Assessment’ approach based on a more transparent, coherent, predictable and simpler chemical safety assessment processes across different pieces of legislation.
Against this background, the Agency should be governed by a single Regulation in order to cover in one act the Agency’s extended tasks and involvement in the implementation of several pieces of legislation and to ensure its efficient and sustainable governance, taking into account the principles of the Common Approach. This Regulation should therefore replace the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006.
This proposal is part of the sixth simplification omnibus to reduce compliance costs and administrative burden for the chemical industry while ensuring strong protection of human health and the environment.
CONTENT: the Commission proposal aims to strengthen the governance of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) and increase the sustainability of its financing model. In addition, it will:
- provide it with updated and improved legal framework which would allow it to operate effectively and efficiently and also onboard new tasks seamlessly;
- abolish the requirement for the segregation of the different budget strands of the Agency (Chemicals - REACH/CLP, Biocides, Environmental directives) and merge them in one entity;
- positively impact ECHA’s daily management and allow for more flexibility in the use of the resources and streamline the financing of the Agency.
Structure and content of the proposal
Moreover, the proposal introduces a number of new provisions on the Agency that were not previously featured under REACH. These are as follows:
Objectives and tasks of ECHA
The Agency’s objectives and extended scope of tasks, stemming from different pieces of other EU legislation is reflected in the corresponding provisions of this proposal. The other EU legislation assigning tasks is reflected in Annex I of this proposal to ensure that the Agency’s responsibilities under other EU legislation are coherently and transparently reflected in this Regulation.
Organisational structure of ECHA
The current organisational structure of the Agency, including all bodies of the Agency established under REACH and Biocidal Products Regulation, is laid down in this proposal to provide a coherent overview of the Agency’s structure, which has expanded, together with its tasks, since the adoption of REACH. The Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety is listed as a stand-alone scientific committee among ECHA committees and bodies. The rules on the governance of the Agency’s committees are moved to this proposal, while the provisions on the specific tasks of the committees remain in REACH and BPR and are referred to in this proposal.
The role of the Executive Director
Compared to the provisions in REACH, the rules on the appointment of the Executive Director in this proposal better specify their employment and provide for the evaluation of their performance and accountability. The tasks of the Executive Director laid down in this proposal include, in addition to the existing tasks, drafting the Agency’s financial rules and clarifying the Executive Director’s role in coordinating between the different committees within the Agency in case of divergence between their scientific opinions.
Financial provisions
These include the rules on the single programming document of the Agency, which includes the three-year planning, the work programme of the following year and reporting requirements. The changes in the financial provisions result from the implementation of the Common Approach and the currently applicable financial rules for EU decentralised agencies. The changes introduced to the budget procedures and the presentation of accounts and discharge are minor. A new provision on the possibility to charge fees by the Agency for capacity building was introduced. The proposal also allows ECHA to maintain a limited fund reserve from income form fees and charges, subject to the specific conditions set out in this proposal.