Document OEEJ4y7JqQErrBLjEb5p5XXL

EUROPEAN COMMISSION INTERNAL MARKET, INDUSTRY, ENTREPRENEURSHIP Ecosystems I: Chemicals, food and retail ENVIRONMENT DIRECTORATE-GENERAL Circular Economy and Green Growth AND SMEs DIRECTORATE-GENERAL Bundled Reports Meeting Commission - CEFIC GRA & Essential Uses - 19 January 2023 List of participants CEFIC: DG ENV: Aurel Ciobanu-Dordea (Director B), Unit B2), Unit B2), Unit B2), B2), ESU B2), ESU B2). DG GROW F1), Unit F1), F1), Unit F1), Follow up actions: 1. By Fri 20 January- CEFIC to provide information on polymers to the COM (as a followup of the meeting on 12 January). 2. Possible Meeting/workshop with industry on the occupational safety legislation, its practical aspects: where it is working well, possible areas for improvement (e.g. for selfemployed professionals, lack of harmonized protection across MS), bridging towards the REACH community: CEFIC to further outreach to DG EMPL on the discussion topics. COM services preferred timing (GROW, ENV, EMPL): the second half of 2023. 3. COM to reflect on illustration of the concepts and regulatory processes under consideration by practical examples: for the meeting with SMEs the first week of March. 4. CEFIC to provide further input on possible problems with competition law and ways to overcome those in the context of derogations of general applicability, substitution plans and protection of confidential business information. GRA discussion: - CEFIC: No firm positions yet, but concerns about introduction of new concepts, processes and measures. Most controversially perceived until now is the extension of GRA and introduction of the essential use. - CEFIC: On the GRA extension: IND supports substitution of substances with these hazards in consumer products, but sufficient time for identification and implementation of alternatives is needed (to see which products are affected and to substitute). Reassuring that the extension targets only category 1 substances, the implementation based on a work plan and the start with substances/mixtures in consumer uses, articles coming later. For industry, extension to professional uses is the biggest worry (e.g. paints for construction). - COM: We want the empowerment to restrict the most harmful substances, starting with consumer uses and then some professional uses and proposing in parallel restriction on specific consumer articles. - CEFIC: uncertainty on whether PMTs, vPvMs would also be in scope of GRA. - COM: These groups are still under discussion but have been included in the Impact Assessment. - COM: Work plan for GRA will be in the form of a SWD, which is not binding, but COM prefers to have a collective discussion on it; maybe based on (informal) generic prioritisation criteria mainly for articles. Timing for discussion in CARACAL tbc, potentially already in March. Essential use discussion: - CEFIC: Not so much the concern about the essential use criteria but rather how the concept is implemented in REACH processes and who takes decisions. Essential uses should not be the only option for derogation, but rather complementary to what is currently in place. - CEFIC: Has looked at the potential implementation using the example of the microplastics restriction proposal. A number of the planned derogations would not be possible if essential use is used as the only ground for derogation (e.g. solubility would not be a ground under essential use). - COM: Not convinced the examples chosen by Cefic in its study are relevant and the most appropriate to illustrate derogations based on essential uses (restriction processes in these cases are still ongoing and based on article 68(1) of REACH, not on generic approaches). The aim of the essential use concept is to simplify the procedures, we want to obtain info on alternatives at an early stage; authorities can suggest derogation/exemptions for essential uses upfront; - CEFIC: Could we work out some examples of how the new system would work? - COM: Maybe can reflect for an upcoming workshop/meeting with SMEs - CEFIC: we cannot see how criticality/necessity for health or safety could simplify assessments, can probably only be used for limited cases of clearly essential (e.g. prioritised for a faster decision-making on authorisations) and clearly non-essential (although it may lead to court cases and not to speed up the process). - CEFIC: Examples helpful also here. A use in in vitro diagnostics clearly essential (provided there are no alternatives), a use in in-fill mulches clearly non-essential?