Implementation of risk reduction measures under REACh

Toxic ignorance has become a major issue in the current debate on chemical policy both in the EU and the US.  The term refers to a lack of knowledge of the health and environmental properties, as well as the mechanisms of action, of Existing Chemicals. There can be little doubt that this term also goes to the heart of the problem facing us today.  However, the availability of such data – at any rate for individual substances – gives rise to a new problem, which is that such data must now be evaluated in light of the actions that need to be taken. Here the legal interface with other sector of environmental legislation are crucial.

"Interface problems between REACh and sector specific environmental legislation (IPPC/WFD)" is the titel of a study carried out on behalf of the German Federal Environmental Agency.

Download of the english version: UBA - Text 04/2005 (pdf, 1,5 MB)

German Version: UBA - Text 03/2005 (pdf, 1,5 MB) 

Risk management under REACh

Requirements upon technical and organisational guidance

for producers, importers and downstream users

Preparatory study carried out on behalf of the German Federal Environmental Agency.

The success of REACh will depend on whether or not the actors are willing and able to adopt the roles allocated to them under the new regime. Yet it would be naive to assume that the simple fact of enacting the Regulation will be sufficient to effect the necessary changes in the behaviour of the responsible parties.

The paradigm shift in chemicals regulation caused by REACh brings with it a clear requirement for more self-responsibility on the part of economic actors. The authorities’ monitoring and inspection strategies will need adjustments to this development – indeed, it is this which makes the new regulatory regime such a paradigm shift.

Against this background, the central issue which emerges is the extent to which the various actors are willing to work together. Here, more than with any other regulatory scheme, the starting point for all efforts to bring about change is ensuring that the responsible parties addressed by the regulation are motivated – motivation matters. Another question must therefore also be asked: what incentives are there for the actors, and what obstacles lie in their way?

The initial hypothesis in this preparatory study is that support, in the form of (technical and organizational) guidance specific to each type of economic actor, can help to push forward the necessary innovation and cooperation processes to implement REACh in the intended way. Thus transaction costs for each actor can be kept to a minimum and obstacles overcome. This also supports the central, structural objective of REACh to establish a “learning system”, particularly with regard to the interaction occurring between the producers and users of industrial chemicals. To this end, sufficient regulatory (dis)incentives are essential. The question of possible amendments to the current draft of the Regulation will therefore also be addressed.

Summary in english: here (pdf, 250 kB)

German Version: UBA - Text 05/2006 (pdf, 1,9 MB) 

Transnational Product Responsibility in View of the Free Rider Problem -

Product Related Environmental Policy and Transboundary Electronic Commerce

Study performed in the context of the INVERSI-Project in cooperation with  

Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (RWI), Essen, and  

Gesellschaft für Arbeits-, Reorganisations- und Ökologische Wirtschaftsberatung mbH (ARÖW), Duisburg, Germany

Funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research

as part of the :[riw]-program -

Rahmenbedingungen für Innovationen zum nachhaltigen Wirtschaften

Frameworks for Innovation towards Sustainability

Martin Führ, Jaqui Dopfer, Stefanie Merenyi

June 2004

A summary of the sofia results (pdf): (pdf 0,2 MB)

The final report: (pdf 1,2 MB)

Contribution to the liber amicorum for Ludwig Krämer: Richard Macrory (Ed.): Reflections on 30 Years of EU Environmental Law - A High Level of Protection, Europa Law Publishing, Groningen (NL), 2006, p. 273 - 285:

Martin Führ: Transnational Law Making - The WEEE-Example pdf, 270 kB