Making plans for Europe

The new team of EU Commissioners due to assume office for the next five years on 1 February are expected to revamp the EU’s nanotechnology legislation, an issue of critical importance to the personal care product industry.

In hearings at the European Parliament in Brussels and policy statements issued to MEPs, nominee Commissioners signalled an end to the unravelling old policy of assessing nanomaterials under existing health and safety controls.

In his written statement Italy’s Antonio Tajani, nominated to take over as industry Commissioner said: “The European Parliament has rightly stated that nanomaterials must be covered by a different set of rules because of the almost unlimited range of applications for nanotechnologies in various sectors with their own specific features.” He noted that the new Commission would present a detailed policy report in 2011 and in the meantime he would “make sure that each of the Commission's legislative proposals takes nanomaterials into consideration.”

In his statement, the nominee as EU environment Commissioner Janez Potočnik added he would “examine if the existing legislative framework adequately covers environmental issues related to nanotechnology or whether specific measures are necessary.” And in his inquisitorial hearing at the parliament, Potočnik went further. He dismissed ideas that the existing chemical control system Reach was robust enough to deal with nanoparticles: “In any case, Reach would not be enough with regard to nanotechnology. Reach does not cover nanomaterials. We have to be very careful here because the first objective should be safety,” Potočnik intoned. He said rules that took account of nanotechnology’s particular challenges were “extremely important from the environmental point of view and there is need to have transparency”.

Asked how soon it would be before the next stage of nanotechnology rules was introduced, Potočnik replied: “There is no way on earth I can answer that,” but he said he would cooperate with the nominated research Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn on the file.

Meanwhile Potočnik, who is the outgoing Commission’s research Commissioner, was clearly concerned about how Reach was being rolled out in general, saying its implementation required reassessment. There had to be a shake-up in the European Chemical Agency and the rules under which it is working, he said. “When we have EU legislation the purpose is not just to have it but to implement it. This is a priority,” Potocnik told MEPs.

He said he would go to the agency’s Helsinki headquarters as soon as he could if confirmed in his Commissioner role to ensure the body is implementing its mandate – something questioned by experts in recent months.

In his note to MEPs, Tajani said: “The successful implementation of Reach is my priority, and 2010 will be a critical year, with the first deadlines for the registration of substances.” He said he was aware of the importance of the scheduled 2012 Reach review and would “work closely” with Potočnik on the issue.

The Italian vowed to translate all Reach documentation into the EU’s 22 languages as soon as possible. This was particularly important for small and medium sized businesses, he said, so they “can have the best possible circumstances in which to prepare and submit their documentation”.

He also promised to address “the problem of [assessing under Reach] compounds made up of different substances,” by 2012, a serious issue for sectors such as the personal care industry that use complex combinations of chemicals.

“We’ve got to work on that between now and 2012. We’ll have another year to evaluate how Reach has worked in that particular area and try to make the improvements needed,” he said. Tajani said he wanted the parliament to play an active role with the Commission in improving Reach. “It’s so important for our businesses, for the health of our citizens and the commitment that we all share to try to ensure that our citizens live in a world where they can breathe free,” said the Commission nominee.

The other new commissioner who will be of key importance to the personal care product sector will probably be Geoghegan-Quinn, a veteran Irish politician. She did not inspire confidence in a light-hearted aside in front of her EP interrogators when admitting never having heard of nanotechnology until a few days before her hearing last week, although she did promise to pay the issue “close attention”.

That said, Quinn’s importance to industries requiring cutting-edge technological development to thrive – such as the personal care product sector – will be significant. Commission president José Manuel Barroso has promised to put innovation at the heart of European policy making and she will be tasked with designing the eighth framework programme on research, which will be a multi-billion Euro affair to be launched in 2014. Sectors given priority standing will be able to tap these funds.

Quinn told MEPs that Barroso had also assured her of complete independence of thought and action in her brief, a statement that will doubtless be noticed by lobbyists.

“We must manage change together, rather than let change manage us. Our ambition is to have a pioneering Europe,” Quinn said with a rhetorical flourish, which evidently won MEPs’ approval. “Europe is at its best when working in the future tense and we must remember that a world of zero risk is a world of zero innovation,” she added. She signalled that she would be pushing for more national and private spending on research and development, admitting that the EU had on average not reached its 3% target for expenditure on R&D; only the Nordic countries are doing well and setting an example for others to emulate, she believes.