On 2^nd February 2016, Health Commissioner Vytenis Povilas Andriukaitis was challenged by quite a few Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) during a plenary session in Strasbourg on the failing of the European Commission (EC) to define scientific criteria for identifying endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs).  MEPs asked the Health Commissioner to clarify the position of the EC following the European Court of Justice (ECJ) judgment on the case of Sweden versus the EC concerning the definition of scientific criteria to identify EDCs.

On 16^th December 2015 the ECJ ruled that the EC had breached European Union (EU) law and had violated the rights of the EU citizens by failing to set criteria to identify EDCs by December 2013, as mandated in the pesticide and biocide regulations. The court also added that: “no provision of the regulation requires an impact assessment”.  On the contrary, the EC has engaged itself in carrying out a socio-economic impact assessment that is delaying the setting of the criteria.

Defending this decision, Mr. Vytenis Povilas Andriukaitis highlighted that the definition of scientific criteria to identify EDCs is pioneering work that has not been carried out by any other country, and that the complexity of the issue and the diverging views of member states on whether the scientific criteria should be defined following a hazard-based approach or a risk-based approach, were adding to this complexity.

The Health Commissioner, however, reassured the Members of the European Parliament that the EC is committed to comply with the judgment of the ECJ and to adopt new scientific criteria for identifying EDCs before the summer, by presenting two separate acts:

1. Implementing act containing the criteria that will be applied to chemical substances falling under the Plant Protection Products (PPPs) regulation, and
2. A delegated act containing criteria applicable under the biocides regulation.

"It is deeply regrettable that the European Commission was found to have breeched the law regarding the setting of EDCs criteria last December. While it is welcome that the Commission has now committed to adopting new scientific criteria for identifying EDCs before the summer, it is important that the criteria are science-based and are not influenced by socio-economic considerations. It is also equally important that the Commission quickly delivers the criteria so that they can be implemented in other pieces of legislation, such as the Medical Device Regulation proposal where a reference to the scientific criteria for identifying EDCs contained in medical devices has been proposed by the European Parliament." Grazia Cioci, Deputy Director, HCWH Europe

HCWH Europe welcomes an earlier adoption of the scientific criteria to identify EDCs, as they have been ready for quite some time and there is no need to wait for the results of a socio-economic impact assessment that will not provide any contribution to criteria that have to be science-based.

An earlier adoption of the criteria will allow other pieces of legislation to refer to them, such as the EC Medical Device Regulation proposal where the European Parliament is pushing for an amendment foreseeing the phase out of EDCs, identified according to the scientific criteria, contained in medical devices, if safer alternatives are available and technically feasible. 

Read More:

• Read our Non-Toxic Healthcare Report here.
• View our EDC-Free Healthcare infographic here.
• Read our letter to MEP Glenis Willmott about the upcoming Medical Device Regulation negotiations, which was co-signed by 18 NGOs, here.
• Watch our webinar, ‘EDCs in the Healthcare Sector’ here.
• Download our information leaflet ‘Endocrine Disruptors in the Healthcare Sector’ (available in 6 languages) here.