EU officials have violated the law by delaying the implementation of bans on hazardous chemicals for nearly two decades, according to a European Ombudsman investigation announced on October 21, 2024.
The European Commission takes an average of 14.5 months to decide whether to permit companies to continue using banned chemicals, which is nearly five times the legal limit, as confirmed by Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly. This delay constitutes maladministration.
These delays have allowed companies to legally use substances identified by EU scientific advisors as cancer risks, fertility disruptors, or causes of other serious harms. This likely resulted in the use of thousands of tonnes of such chemicals annually across various products, posing an ongoing threat to human health, recycling processes, and the environment.
The Ombudsman praised the EEB research for bringing to light the critical issue of the Commission’s delays. The 2022 study uncovered systemic problems, revealing that EU officials can approve poorly understood chemicals for the market in as little as three weeks. However, it takes nearly a decade to fully understand their dangers and another decade to ban or restrict those found to be hazardous. This prolonged process allows widespread harm to continue unchecked, posing significant risks to public health and the environment. The findings underscore the urgent need for more efficient regulatory processes to protect society from dangerous chemicals.