The European Court of Human Rights ‘ECHR’ delivered a landmark ruling on 9 April 2024 in a climate case brought by 2,000 Swiss women, mostly in their 70s
Three key components of a credible UK approach to chemicals regulation are, as at April 2024, currently missing.
On 6 February 2024, in the face of strong opposition from farmers in the EU and their trade bodies such as COPA COGECA, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the abandonment of the proposed Sustainable Use of Plant Protection Products Regulation, which contained the Commission’s aim to halve pesticide use. This had been an important part of the Commission’s ‘Farm to Fork’ strategy and its Green Deal.
On 30 January 2024 the Welsh Government issued a White Paper setting out its proposals for new legislation for the Senedd on Environmental Principles, Governance and Biodiversity Targets. The consultation will run until 30 April 2024.
The re-establishment of devolved government in Northern Ireland was the subject of intense negotiations for months before conclusions were announced by the UK government and the leadership of the Democratic Unionist Party ‘DUP’, and with the publication on 31 January 2024 of the Command Paper ‘Safeguarding the Union’ (CP 1021).
The chemicals industry in the UK represents about 9% of the industry within the European Union, with trade flows each way exceeding Euros 20 billion each year.
The key legislation governing the chemicals industry in the EU is the REACH chemicals Regulation, which is supervised by the European Chemicals Agency, ECHA, in Helsinki, Finland. REACH requires the Registration of most chemical substances through ECHA.
