The second REACH review (REACH Refit evaluation)
The Commission has published the results of the second review of REACH on 5 March. The results of Commission's assessment have been presented in a Commission report on the operation of REACH, accompanied by a comprehensive evaluation report.
Roadmap
The REACH Regulation includes the obligation for a review every 5 years to monitor progress in the achievement of its objectives. The second REACH Review, due in 2017, is being carried out in parallel with the fitness check on the most relevant chemicals legislation excluding REACH.
The REACH REFIT evaluation (REACH Review 2017) will build on the findings of the first REACH Review (published in 2013) and examine key developments since then. The REACH REFIT evaluation (REACH review 2017), is carried out in line with the principles of Better Regulation and will cover the five compulsory evaluation criteria: effectiveness, efficiency, relevance, coherence and EU added value.
The Roadmap describes in detail how the REACH REFIT evaluation (REACH Review 2017) is being carried out.
Evidence gathering
As a basis for its evaluation, the Commission will draw on a broad range of information sources, including reports from EU Member States and ECHA as well as thematic studies tendered by the Commission and carried out by external consultants. Stakeholder consultation is another important source of evidence, data and information linked to the implementation of REACH.
Stakeholder consultation
Stakeholder consultation is an important element of the REACH REFIT evaluation (REACH Review 2017). The consultation strategy provides additional details about the consultation objectives, activities and tools planned.
A public consultation was carried out to obtain stakeholders' views on the approach to the evaluation and collect any potentially missing elements. The online public consultation ran from 28 October 2016 until 28 January 2017. You can access the online publication results below.
Furthermore, a specific consultation on SME relevant issues was carried out through the Europe Enterprise Network (EEN).
Online public consultation in relation to the REACH REFIT evaluation: results
We held a public consultation to get stakeholders' views on the evaluation approach and collect any missing elements. The online public consultation ran from 28 October 2016 until 28 January 2017.
It garnered 455 responses from 453 respondents (due to 2 double entries). The responses came from all expected stakeholder groups:
- 208 businesses
- 142 industry associations
- 26 public authorities or inter-governmental organisations
- 47 NGOs, consumer associations, trade unions, academic institutions and others
You can view the contributions by following the links in the table below. Please note that some contributions are published in anonymous form upon request. 49 respondents requested that their contributions would not be published.
Contribution published under the name provided | Contribution published anonymously | Contribution not to be published | TOTAL | |
Registered organisations* | 154 View responses - Xls file 1 with businesses and industry associations - Xls file 2 with NGOs, consumer, trade unions academia and others
View position papers - Zip file 1 with businesses (registered) - Zip file 2 with industry associations (registered) - Zip file 3 with others (registered) | 28 View responses
View position papers | 10 | 192 |
Public authorities or inter-governmental organisations | 19 View responses Position papers | 6 View responses No position papers | 1 | 26 |
Unregistered organisations and citizens | 83 View responses Position papers | 116 View responses Position papers | 38 | 237 |
Total | 256 | 150 | 49 | 455 |
* Our Transparency Register includes registered organisations that subscribe to its code of conduct. The Transparency Register ID numbers are listed in the questionnaires.
An external consultant is analysing the responses and we'll publish a summary shortly.
Questionnaires
The online public consultation used the following questionnaires (EN, DE, FR).
Contact details
Responsible services:
DG Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, Unit D1 (REACH)
DG Environment, Unit B2 (Sustainable Chemicals)
SME consultation results to follow shortly.
Studies
The evidence for the REACH Review will be gathered from a large number of studies and reports.
The bigger picture and links with other on-going Commission initiatives
This evaluation takes place in parallel with the fitness check on the most relevant chemicals legislation (excluding REACH - except for the PBT/vPvB criteria), as well as related aspects of legislation applied to downstream industries and will be carried out in full coordination. There is also an on-going ex-post evaluation of 24 EU Directives in the area of health and safety at work. Together they will serve as an evidence base for the chemicals stock-taking report mentioned in the 2014 REFIT communication, and, more generally, for developing by 2018 the non-toxic environment strategy as required by the 7th Environment Action Programme.