If you don’t know the process for adopting proposals, your chances of positively influencing the outcome go down.
A challenge is that many of the most critical steps, e.g. validation of the entry and inter-service consultation – are not public. If you are blind to these critical windows of opportunity, your chances diminish.
From time to time, I’ll post some of my journey maps that different types of proposals go through.
EU POP Listing
Background
From time to time, the European Union nominates substances to the POP Convention.
You can find the list of substances submitted by the Commission on behalf of the EU here.
The European Union has an established procedure for listing substances. That said, it is not well known.
But, most of the time, the nominations go through a well-worn journey. If you know the steps, your chances of influencing the outcome improve.
The procedure is a Proposal for establishing EU positions under existing International agreements (Art. 218 III-VI TFEU).
The Commission are supported in their work by a Member State Committee – the Expert group for Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) (Link) and the ECHA PBT Expert Group (link).
The Commission must take the proposal through a number of steps to get a substances listed.
This includes both the standard internal Commission checks (validation and inter-service consultation), public scrutiny, and Member State oversight at both the Expert Group level and the Council level.
An individual listing proposal is a Council Decision that needs a Qualified Majority Vote by the Council (See Article 218(8) TEU).
The guiding legislation is Regulation 2019/1021/EU, POP (link). See Articles 3(4) , 8(1)(b-d).
The EU generally acts only after they have introduced measures on the substance. I’d recommend reading the judgment in Case T-77/20 for more information.
Example: Chlorpyrifos
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2020: Chlorpyrifos has been prohibited to be marketed for use as an active substance in plant protection products since 2020 and in biocidal products since 2008 (Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009, Regulation (EU) No 528/2012)1.
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TBC: Scientific Identification e.g. Relevant PBT/vPvB assessments
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13-14 May 2020: Consult ECHA PBT Expert Group (link)
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TBC: Re-submitted to ECHA PBT Expert Group
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2020: Decide Planning Entry: Mandates Under Existing International Agreements
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TBD: Validation of Planning Entry
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9 June 2020: POP CA discussion on nomination of Chlorpyrifos link
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2020: Decide Planning Entry: Mandates Under Existing International Agreements
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TBD: Validation of Planning Entry
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9 October 2020: Draft Proposal
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14 October 2020: start of public consultation
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14 October 2020: Commission launch Inter-Service Consultation for Council Decision (10 DGs)
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24 October 2020: Inter-Service Consultation ends
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24 November 2020: Consult POP CA (link)
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9 December 2020: End of Public Consultation
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9 February 2021: Commission Proposal for a Council Decision link
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18 February 2021: Presentation by the Commission to WP on International Environment Issues (Chemicals) link
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22 February 2021: Working Party on the Environment. Presentation by the Commission and Discussion link
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31 March 2021: Permanent Represenative Committee – Item link
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31 March 2021: Start of Written Procedure for Adoption in Council – 1 week
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7 April 2021: Written Procedure Ends – all delegations voted in favour link
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7 April 2021: Council Decision (EU) 2021/592 adopted by written procedure (see link, page 25).
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27 April 2021: Proposal submitted by the Commission to the Secretariat of the Convention
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8 June 2021: POP CA update on ECHA preliminary conclusion vPvBT link
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8 June 2021: Expert Group discuss
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June 2021: Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee (POPRC determined that chlorpyrifos meets the screening criteria set-out under Annex D of the Stockholm Convention, warranting that chlorpyrifos move to the next stage of the review process.
- Process ongoing