In a final vote, the European Parliament has just adopted a new law updating the rules on the collection, treatment and discharge of urban wastewater. Europe's local authorities fear an explosion for the costs of its implementation.
On Thursday (4 April), the French opposition party Les Écologistes pushed a proposal to reduce the use of the so-called "forever chemicals" through the National Assembly, but the government favours a European solution to this environmental and health problem.
With an EU Industrial Competitiveness Deal in the pipeline for the next mandate, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo invited European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to Antwerp on Tuesday (19 February) to consider the future of the EU's chemical industry.
The French parliament's European affairs committee adopted on Wednesday (14 February) a European resolution tabled by Nicolas Thierry (Europe Écologie Les Verts, NUPES) calling for a revised REACH regulation on hazardous chemicals in everyday products.
The European Parliament's Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee on Tuesday (13 February) adopted new rules to ensure safety and protect children from harmful chemicals present in toys.
The European Commission launched a consultation on a draft proposal to phase out the use of the controversial chemical bisphenol A in food contact materials, including plastic boxes, protective coatings for cans, and food processing equipment.
The European Parliament gave the final approval on Wednesday (7 February) to the new rules that will limit workers’ exposure to lead and diisocyanates and step up health protection.
A year after a universal ban on per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) was proposed in the EU, a new study found that PFAS affect people as early as the fetal stage of development.
Some EU countries are pressing the European Commission to adopt a complete ban on toxic PFAS chemicals amid warnings of potential trade-offs with green technologies that could slow down the energy transition.
With food systems reported to account for 15% of global fossil fuel use, a new study raised the alarm on food production reliance on petrochemicals ahead of the UN COP28 climate conference at the end of November.
Tattoo inks still contain potentially carcinogenic and allergenic substances in forbidden concentrations despite the introduction of an EU regulation in January 2022, according to an analysis by the Swedish Medical Products Agency.
The EU Council on Monday (23 October) formally adopted the directive to step up the protection of workers from health risks related to asbestos, the final stage in the legislative process for the file.
The European Commission this week appeared to indefinitely shelve a promised revision of its REACH regulation on chemical safety, refusing to give Parliament a clear indication of when the proposal will be tabled, if at all.
The European Parliament on Tuesday (3 October) approved a directive stepping up protections of workers from health risks related to asbestos and improving the early detection of asbestos fibres.
Austria will vote against the European Commission’s proposal to renew the approval of glyphosate, the country’s agriculture ministry confirmed on Monday (25 September).
The European Commission has proposed to renew the approval of glyphosate - a common and contentious herbicide - for a period of 10 years, with a number of restrictions.
Bisphenol A (BPA), a hormone-disrupting chemical used in food packaging, is present in almost all Europeans' bodies, posing a potential health risk, the European Environment Agency said Thursday (14 September).
German economy and climate minister Robert Habeck has expressed reservations regarding an EU-wide ban of “forever chemicals” (PFAS), which was proposed by a German government agency and endorsed by other ministers from his party.
As the EU works to regulate per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), decision-makers would do well to tune out the voice of the chemicals industry, just as they did with Big Tobacco and fossil fuels, writes Vicky Cann.
Agrochemical giants Bayer and Syngenta are in breach of legal obligations for withholding information on the brain toxicity risk of pesticides, the European Commission said on Tuesday (18 July).
The European Union is gearing up to revise its chemicals legislation to ban harmful substances and drive sustainability in the industry amid debates over the concept of “essential use”, which should help identify irreplaceable functions for such substances.
The Dutch government presented its long-awaited efforts to entice the country’s largest nitrogen polluters in the agricultural sector to sell their farms, allowing about 3,000 farmers near nitrogen-sensitive nature reserves to be eligible to receive compensation if they give up their business.
Germany is now in compliance with EU nitrate pollution rules and equipped to further tackle high pollution levels in groundwater, the European Commission announced on Thursday (1 June), ending a decade-long back-and-forth with Brussels and the threat of hefty fines.
The European Commission’s upcoming gene editing proposal is ‘inseparable’ from its proposals to slash the use and risk of pesticides in half and to restore nature, Vice President Frans Timmermans said, stressing the proposals are not an ‘à la carte’ menu.
