The European Green Deal, or Green Deal, looks paler than announced.
Supported by the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, this major plan to better take into account environmental issues should lead in particular to the presentation, on 14 October, of the Union's strategy on chemicals.
But while the Environment department of the Commission, author of this strategy for a “non-toxic environment”, aims to ban a large number of dangerous substances, it is running up against a wall.
Another directorate of the Commission, that of health and food safety, strongly opposes a toughening of the legislation, as documents that Le Parisien have consulted show.
Two visions that clash
Currently, a substance assessed by European agencies as carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic for reproduction (CMR), is doomed to be banned or restricted within a relatively short period of time (usually a maximum of two years).
The Environment department wishes to harmonize European rules by extending this “generic risk assessment” to endocrine disruptors, neurotoxic, immunotoxic or even very toxic products for certain organs such as the liver.
The Health Department pleads for keeping a much longer evaluation method — and currently contested — for these substances, taking into account factors such as exposure to the product.
“We cannot support a general extension of decisions based on danger,” he explains in his responses to the Environment department.
"The current system works well," insists the Health Directorate, even though in 2018, 74% of chemicals produced in Europe are considered dangerous for human health, according to Eurostat.
Ten States, including France, want "new momentum"
The two directions will have to come to an agreement before the October 14 presentation.
However, their positions are so opposed that it is not certain that the standoff turns in favor of European citizens.
Several member states have decided to jump into the fray.
In a column published Wednesday, the French Minister for the Ecological Transition, Barbara Pompili, and nine of her counterparts demanded from the Commission a "concrete and ambitious" strategy: "We hope to see the Commission give new impetus to European legislation on chemicals and pave the way for a toxic-free environment for generations to come.
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In a press release, the NGO European Environmental Bureau believes Thursday that the position of the Health department is contrary to the issues it is supposed to defend: "It is a mystery that health officials are fighting instead of congratulating themselves on this golden opportunity to reduce the chronic and widespread illnesses associated with daily exposure to toxic chemicals.
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