opinion parliamentary committee, 12 February 2024

On discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Chemicals Agency for the financial year 2022

Document ENVI-AD-754667 · (2023/2148(DEC))

Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety · Rapporteur: Pascal Canfin

Where the law stands · dossier 2023/2148 →

AI:In short

The Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety suggests that the Committee on Budgetary Control grant discharge to the Executive Director of the European Chemicals Agency for the 2022 budget. It notes the Agency's 2022 budget of EUR 116 981 740, fee income of EUR 40,154 million and Union subsidy of EUR 78,294 million, and welcomes the first rise in fee income since 2018. It calls on the Commission to propose without delay a stronger governance and more sustainable financing model for the Agency, and stresses the need for adequate staffing for the European Green Deal and chemicals strategy tasks. It regrets that the Agency still recommends authorising substances of very high concern despite significant uncertainties, deplores slow restrictions and long derogations, and asks the Agency to justify authorisations and reference evidence for derogations. It commends the Agency's work on the Integrated Regulatory Strategy, alternatives to animal testing, cooperation with other Union agencies and the 'one substance - one assessment' principle.

Position. The Committee recommends that discharge be granted to the Executive Director of the European Chemicals Agency for the 2022 budget, and asks the Committee on Budgetary Control to incorporate its suggestions into its discharge decision.

Key points

The Committee calls on the Committee on Budgetary Control to incorporate its suggestions into the discharge decision for the European Chemicals Agency for 2022.
It observes that the Agency implements Union chemicals legislation, collects and disseminates information on chemicals, helps companies comply and promotes safe use.
It notes the 2022 final budget of EUR 116 981 740, a 5,3% increase from 2021, with commitment execution of 98,6% and payment execution of 85,1%, and says strict segregation between legislation causes administrative burden and inflexibility.
It notes 2022 fee income of EUR 40,154 million and a Union subsidy of EUR 78,294 million including EUR 2,244 million from third countries, and welcomes the first fee income increase since 2018.
It stresses the lack of predictability of fee income and calls on the Commission to present without delay its proposal to strengthen the Agency's governance and financing sustainability.
It underlines the need for adequate staffing for the European Green Deal, the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability, the Circular Economy Action Plan and the zero pollution target.
It acknowledges the Agency's focus on core legal tasks, support for the revision of CLP and REACH and new tasks under the Drinking Water Directive, and welcomes 151 of 162 planned outputs completed and 8 in progress.
It welcomes the Agency's work on alternatives to animal testing and its cooperation with other Union agencies through memoranda of understanding, including joint work on pollinators and soil.
It regrets that the Agency recommends authorising substances of very high concern where significant uncertainties remain, and calls on it to verify that authorisations are justified and to require data excluding carcinogenicity or long-term toxicity.
It deplores the long time to restrict highly hazardous chemicals and unjustly long or timeless derogations, and calls on the Agency to reference the evidence considered and make uncertainties clear.
It commends the Integrated Regulatory Strategy, notes about 2 000 substances in 61 groups assessed and about 75% of registered substances above 100 tonnes assessed by end-2022, with about 1 000 high-tonnage substances unassessed.
It invites the Agency to follow the Precautionary Principle, welcomes the 'one substance - one assessment' principle with EFSA, notes about 20% of completed assessment cases led to further action, and recommends discharge.

Who is affected

The European Chemicals Agency: its 2022 budget implementation is assessed and discharge is recommended.
The Commission: asked to present a proposal to strengthen the Agency's governance and financing model without delay.
The Agency: asked to ensure adequate staffing, justify authorisations and reference evidence for derogations.
Companies using chemicals: affected by the Agency's compliance support and authorisation decisions.

Figures and deadlines

EUR 116 981 740: the Agency's final budget for 2022.
5,3%: increase in the 2022 budget compared to 2021.
98,6%: commitment appropriation execution rate in 2022.
85,1%: payment appropriations execution rate in 2022.
EUR 40,154 million: fee income collected in 2022.
EUR 78,294 million: Union subsidy in 2022, including EUR 2,244 million from third countries.
151 of 162: planned outputs completed as planned in 2022, with 8 in progress.
Approximately 2 000 substances in 61 groups: assessed under the Integrated Regulatory Strategy.

Written by AI from the full text · every figure comes from the text · ¶ opens the paragraph · 25 Sept 2026 · Report a problem

Full text

Suggestions 21 paragraphs

The Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety calls on the Committee onBudgetary Control, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following suggestions into its proposal for a decision:

1. Observes that the European Chemicals Agency ('the Agency') is the driving force in implementing the Union's chemicals legislation for the benefit of public health and the environment, as well as for innovation and competitiveness; notes that the Agency collects, evaluates and disseminates information on chemicals, helps companies comply with legislation and promotes the safe use of chemicals;

2.Notes that the Agency's final budget for 2022 was EUR 116 981 740, representing an increase of 5,3% compared to 2021; notes that budget monitoring efforts during 2022 resulted in a commitment appropriation execution rate of 98,6%, and a payment appropriations' execution rate of 85,1%; notes that the implementation of the budget, while keeping the strict segregation between several pieces of legislation or legislative area, is resulting in unnecessary administrative burden and inflexibility;

3. Notes that in 2022, the Agency collected fee income totalling EUR 40,154 million (EUR 30,198 million in 2021) while the Union subsidy amounted to EUR 78,294 million (EUR 79,665 million in 2021) including contributions from third countries of EUR 2,244 million (EUR 2,418 million in 2021);

4.Notes with satisfaction that in 2022, for the first time since the final registration deadline under Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006('REACH Regulation') in 2018, the Agency's fee income has increased, while reliance on the Union to finance its operations has slightly decreased;

5.Stresses, despite this reversal, the need to address the lack of predictability of the Agency’s fee income and calls on the Commission to present its proposal to strengthen the governance of ECHA and increase the sustainability of its financing model without delay, in line with its commitment expressed in the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability and in light of additional legal mandates the Agency is expected to take up; Highlights that persistence of budgetary uncertainty can have negative consequences on the exercise of ECHA's mandate and insists that predictable and sustainable financing is a pre-condition for effective discharge of the Agency's budget and recalls previous calls of the European Parliament to improve the Agency's budgetary certainty;

6.Underlines the necessity of ensuring adequate staffing reflecting the needs of the European Green Deal and the Union Chemical Strategy for Sustainability, Circular Economy Action Plan and, in particular, the zero pollution target and the associated increase in tasks;

7.Acknowledges that in 2022 the Agency focussed on delivering its core legal tasks and on providing scientific-technical support to the Commission in the implementation of the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability, in particular the revision of CLP and REACH, as well as taking on new task under the Drinking Water Directive;

8.Welcomes the fact that 151 of the 162 planned outputs have been completed as planned and a further 8 are in progress;

9. Welcomes ECHA’s activities for promoting alternatives to animal testing and the steps taken to increase the effectiveness and visibility of this work;

10. Notes that the Agency collaborates closely with other Union agencies, such as the European Food Safety Authority, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the European Medicines Agency, by means of memoranda of understanding to strengthen exchanges of information, better mutual understanding and, where appropriate, joint projects; underlines the importance of such an approach, in order to ensure that the work of each agency is consistent with that of the other agencies and to meet the requirements of sound financial management; welcomes the sharing of services and encourages active cooperation among the Union agencies where and when possible, including in dedicated joint work teams on specific environmental topics such as pollinators and soil;

11.Regrets that ECHA continues to recommend authorising the use of substances of very high concern (SVHC) where there are significant uncertainties. Reminds the Agency of the obligation to verify if granting authorisation is duly justified and in line with the law, and to not support granting authorisations when non-negligible uncertainties remain on the existence of alternatives; Calls on ECHA to ensure the applicant provides sufficient data to exclude any carcinogenicity or long-term toxicity risk of the product;

Read the rest (9 paragraphs)

12.Notes that the ECHA as an organisation underwent restructuring in 2022, which included significant changes at senior and middle management level and the introduction of a new hybrid working model for ECHA staff and ECHA bodies;

13.Deplores the very long time to restrict highly hazardous chemicals in the EU and that many uses of these chemicals are granted unjustly long or timeless derogations; calls on the Agency to strictly reference the evidence that it has considered when supporting derogations and to make remaining uncertainties clear;

14.Commends the work carried out in the implementation of the Integrated Regulatory Strategy (IRS) and notes with satisfaction that further progress has been made in identifying substances of concern requiring regulatory action, including the assessment of substances in groups, with approximately 2 000 substances in 61 groups assessed;

15.Invites the Agency, in respect of scientific excellence, to conduct its work in line with the Precautionary Principle, which underlines the REACH Regulation (Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006) and the need to protect, as a priority, human health and the environment from hazardous chemicals;

16.Notes that, on the whole, the Integrated Regulatory Strategy has led to approximately 75% of registered substances above 100 tonnes being assessed by the end of 2022; notes in this context that approximately 1 000 of these high-tonnage substances remain unassessed;

17.Commends the amount of work that the ECHA has done in 2022, including the large number of applications for authorisations and the adoption of opinions supporting restrictions for substances of concern, including dechlorane plus and lead used in ammunition for hunting, sport shooting and fishing;

18.Welcomes the fact that the ECHA, in cooperation with the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), has taken steps to promote the 'one substance - one assessment' principle to ensure greater consistency in the hazard and risk assessment of active substances;

19.Notes that the analysis for the period 2020-2022 revealed that approximately 20% of completed assessment cases were considered for further regulatory action;

20.Recommends, based on the facts available, that discharge be granted to the Executive Director of the European Chemicals Agency in respect of the implementation of the Agency's budget for the financial year 2022.

Annex: entities or persons from whom the rapporteur has received input 1 paragraph

The Chair in his capacity as rapporteur declares under his exclusive responsibility that he did not receive input from any entity or person to be mentioned in this Annex pursuant to Article 8 of Annex I to the Rules of Procedure.

Information on adoption in committee asked for opinion 1 paragraph

Date adopted	24.1.2024
Result of final vote	+: –: 0:	66 13 6
Members present for the final vote	Catherine Amalric, Maria Arena, Hildegard Bentele, Sergio Berlato, Michael Bloss, Delara Burkhardt, Pascal Canfin, Sara Cerdas, Mohammed Chahim, Nathalie Colin-Oesterlé, Maria Angela Danzì, Esther de Lange, Christian Doleschal, Bas Eickhout, Pietro Fiocchi, Heléne Fritzon, Malte Gallée, Gianna Gancia, Catherine Griset, Teuvo Hakkarainen, Anja Hazekamp, Martin Hojsík, Jan Huitema, Karin Karlsbro, Petros Kokkalis, Peter Liese, Javi López, César Luena, Elżbieta Katarzyna Łukacijewska, Marian-Jean Marinescu, Lydie Massard, Liudas Mažylis, Marina Mesure, Silvia Modig, Dolors Montserrat, Alessandra Moretti, Ville Niinistö, Ljudmila Novak, Nikos Papandreou, Francesca Peppucci, Stanislav Polčák, Jessica Polfjärd, Erik Poulsen, Nicola Procaccini, Frédérique Ries, María Soraya Rodríguez Ramos, Maria Veronica Rossi, Silvia Sardone, Günther Sidl, Ivan Vilibor Sinčić, Maria Spyraki, Edina Tóth, Achille Variati, Petar Vitanov, Alexandr Vondra, Mick Wallace, Emma Wiesner, Michal Wiezik
Substitutes present for the final vote	Asger Christensen, Christophe Clergeau, Margarita de la Pisa Carrión, Martin Häusling, Billy Kelleher, Ska Keller, Danilo Oscar Lancini, Sara Matthieu, Dace Melbārde, Marlene Mortler, Manuela Ripa, Idoia Villanueva Ruiz
Substitutes under Rule 209(7) present for the final vote	Mazaly Aguilar, Katarina Barley, Daniel Buda, Ana Collado Jiménez, Marie Dauchy, Matthias Ecke, Paola Ghidoni, Peter Jahr, Thierry Mariani, Nora Mebarek, Sara Skyttedal, Michaela Šojdrová, Veronika Vrecionová, Thomas Waitz, Stefania Zambelli

Procedure pages

How the committees handled the text, and how their members voted on it.

Final vote by roll call in committee asked for opinion 3 paragraphs

66 · For

No group: Maria Angela Danzì, Edina Tóth
EPP: Hildegard Bentele, Daniel Buda, Nathalie Colin-Oesterlé, Ana Collado Jiménez, Christian Doleschal, Peter Jahr, Esther de Lange, Peter Liese, Elżbieta Katarzyna Łukacijewska, Marian-Jean Marinescu, Liudas Mažylis, Dace Melbārde, Dolors Montserrat, Marlene Mortler, Ljudmila Novak, Francesca Peppucci, Stanislav Polčák, Jessica Polfjärd, Sara Skyttedal, Michaela Šojdrová, Maria Spyraki, Stefania Zambelli
Renew: Catherine Amalric, Pascal Canfin, Asger Christensen, Martin Hojsík, Jan Huitema, Karin Karlsbro, Billy Kelleher, Erik Poulsen, Frédérique Ries, María Soraya Rodríguez Ramos, Emma Wiesner, Michal Wiezik
S&D: Maria Arena, Katarina Barley, Delara Burkhardt, Sara Cerdas, Mohammed Chahim, Christophe Clergeau, Matthias Ecke, Heléne Fritzon, Javi López, César Luena, Nora Mebarek, Alessandra Moretti, Nikos Papandreou, Günther Sidl, Achille Variati, Petar Vitanov
The Left: Petros Kokkalis, Marina Mesure, Idoia Villanueva Ruiz, Mick Wallace
Greens: Michael Bloss, Bas Eickhout, Malte Gallée, Martin Häusling, Ska Keller, Lydie Massard, Sara Matthieu, Ville Niinistö, Manuela Ripa, Thomas Waitz

13 · Against

ECR: Mazaly Aguilar, Sergio Berlato, Pietro Fiocchi, Teuvo Hakkarainen, Margarita de la Pisa Carrión, Nicola Procaccini, Alexandr Vondra, Veronika Vrecionová
ID: Marie Dauchy, Catherine Griset, Thierry Mariani
No group: Ivan Vilibor Sinčić
The Left: Anja Hazekamp

6 · Abstained

ID: Gianna Gancia, Paola Ghidoni, Danilo Oscar Lancini, Maria Veronica Rossi, Silvia Sardone
The Left: Silvia Modig