Unjustified delays by the European Commission in restricting dangerous chemicals may have resulted in more than 100,000 tonnes of avoidable toxic pollution, according to a new report released by the European Environmental Bureau (EEB) and ClientEarth. This estimate covers only 6 of the 22 dossiers included in the EU’s Restrictions Roadmap, the ambitious plan launched four years ago to speed up the removal of the most hazardous substances from the market.
The organisations warn that part of this chemical pollution may already have reached food chains, drinking water, and everyday consumer products such as plastics, textiles, nappies, toys, furniture and food‑contact materials.
🧪 A flagship EU plan stalled by its own institutions
When the Restrictions Roadmap was announced in April 2022, it was presented as the most far‑reaching initiative ever launched to phase out entire groups of toxic chemicals — including PFAS, flame retardants, bisphenols and PVC with hazardous additives — through a faster and more transparent process than the slow, substance‑by‑substance system currently in place.
However, four years later, progress has largely stalled. As explained by Carlos de Prada, coordinator of the Hogar sin tóxicos initiative, “what was announced as the biggest toxic‑substance phase‑out in history is now paralysed by unjustified and unlawful delays, allowing chemicals that should already be banned to remain in drinking water, food and consumer products”.
⛔ Systematic non‑compliance
The report highlights several failures:
- The Commission has not initiated restriction procedures for many substances listed in the roadmap.
- In other cases, it has missed legal deadlines to finalise dossiers.
- Although EU law requires the Commission to process restriction proposals within three months, the average delay has been two years, and in the worst cases almost four, without adequate justification.
- 14 out of 22 high‑priority dossiers remain blocked.
- Only six restrictions have actually become law.
The most striking conclusion of the report is that “the main obstacle to the Commission’s own roadmap has been the Commission itself.”
🌍 Widespread health and environmental impacts
According to Christine Hermann, EEB’s chemicals policy lead, the Commission’s inaction is contributing to widespread contamination and harming both people and ecosystems. Many of these substances have already been detected in European citizens through the HBM4EU human biomonitoring initiative.
⚖️ Accusations of abuse of power
ClientEarth argues that the Commission’s behaviour amounts to abuse of power and poor administrative practice. Lawyer Hélène Duguy warns that the institution is exposing itself to potential legal action: “The Commission must stop postponing the issue and comply with its legal duty to protect people and the environment.”
🧩 Weak restrictions and excessive exemptions
Even in cases where restrictions have been proposed, their scope has often been too limited, reducing the level of protection originally promised. Examples include:
- Only a handful of bisphenols have been targeted, despite many posing similar risks.
- Flame retardants have been addressed only partially.
- Excessive exemptions and long transition periods have been granted, such as for PFHxA, a persistent PFAS.
- The long‑announced restriction on PVC and its toxic additives has not even been formally proposed.
🏭 A broader push for deregulation
The report places the paralysis of the roadmap within a wider trend of deregulatory initiatives promoted by the Commission, often aligned with specific industrial interests. This shift, it warns, risks weakening EU chemical‑safety laws and sidelining scientific expertise and civil‑society organisations.
Concerns are especially high regarding the future regulation of PFAS, one of the most problematic and persistent groups of contaminants.
🚫 Citizens left unprotected
As Carlos de Prada notes, the current deregulatory approach “moves in the opposite direction” of what the roadmap was meant to achieve. He stresses that EU law requires the protection of public health and the environment to take precedence over economic interests.
Key groups of hazardous substances — such as bisphenols, phthalates and PVC — have seen little or no progress, and some restriction processes have not even begun, despite widespread human exposure.
