EU wil grote ongevallen door schadelijke stoffen voorkomen (en)

COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

Luxembourg, 26 June 2012

PRESSE 297

EU improves prevention of major-accident hazards involving dangerous substances (Seveso III)

The Council adopted today a directive on control of major-accident hazards involving dangerous substances (PE-CONS 22/1/12 REV 1 + ADD1). The new directive will replace, by 1 June 2015, the current Seveso II Directive¹ which applies to around 10 000 establishments in the EU

Its main objectives are:

align Annex I (defining the substances falling within the scope of the directive) to changes in the EU system of classification of dangerous substances ² to which it refers;

adapt Annex I to deal with situations occurring after the alignment where substances are included/excluded, that do/do not present a major-accident hazard;

strengthen the provisions relating to public access to safety information, participation in decision-making and access to justice, and improve the way information is collected, managed, made available and shared;

introduce stricter standards for inspections of installations to ensure the effective implementation and enforcement of safety rules

OJL010, 14.1.1997

Regulation on classification, labelling and packaging of dangerous substances and mixtures (CLP), which will apply from 1 June 2015

The text of the directive is the outcome of technical work and extensive and intensive negotiations between the Council, the European Parliament and the European Commission ("trilogues"), during the Hungarian, Polish and the current Danish Presidency. Two progress reports were presented to the Council, one in June () and another in December 2011 ().

The key issues were the scope of the directive and Annex I (list of substances), the relation with the Convention on Access to Information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters (Aarhus Convention), as well as the use of delegated acts

The Commission presented its proposal in December 2012 (). The European Economic and Social Committee adopted its opinion on 15 June 2011¹. The Parliament adopted its position at first reading on 14 June 2012, which reflects what had been previously agreed between the institutions ().

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OJC 248, 25.8.2011