Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-12-11-Speech-1-119"
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"en.20061211.14.1-119"2
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"Mr President, politics is the art of the possible. We should support this hard-won compromise package before us, which will need an open-minded and very honest appraisal at the seven-year review stage. After three and a half years, 700 pages of draft proposals and thousands of amendments, it was never going to be easy, with such a complex piece of legislation, to find the right balance between health and environmental objectives while maintaining the competitiveness of European industry.
Current chemicals regulation is very confusing and inefficient, covering 40 different directives that are more or less independent of each other. Witness the saga of the zinc risk assessment that has taken 15 years, to date, and is still not complete. REACH will rationalise this system and will register, evaluate and authorise chemicals that were never previously tested for their impact on human health.
While the legislative debate is coming to an end, the serious challenges of implementing REACH and setting up the agency are only just beginning. When it comes into force next year, companies will assume new and, in many cases, onerous responsibilities related to the substances that they manufacture, import, distribute or use. This will be particularly challenging for companies that do not already have the expertise to deal with chemicals legislation, especially downstream users of chemicals and the thousands of SMEs that will need to live and survive, Commissioner Verheugen – but I would also add ‘thrive’ to that list – under REACH.
However, the Commission, the competent authorities and Member States, the agency and we here in the European Parliament have a role to play in ensuring that REACH is implemented smoothly and effectively. The Commission is still developing technical guidance and IT tools that will enable industry and authorities to implement the legislation effectively from the start. National helpdesks also need to be set up, either by the competent authorities on their own or in conjunction with industry. These preparatory tools must be in place well before the REACH implementation deadline in order to ensure all the necessary support structures are fully operational. I agree that this REACH directive will have a very positive influence on standards worldwide. Thank you to all concerned."@en1
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