On 10 December 2025, the Council of the European Union agreed its position on a proposed regulation to establish a standalone legal framework for the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA). This is a significant step in the legislative process, confirming the support of EU Member State for the creation of a dedicated regulation to govern ECHA’s mandate, governance, and financing.
Establishing a Dedicated Legal Framework for ECHA
The proposed regulation aims to provide ECHA with its own legal basis, separate from the REACH Regulation, under which the agency was originally established. This initiative reflects the significant expansion of ECHA’s responsibilities in recent years, which now include tasks relating to chemicals, biocides, prior informed consent, persistent organic pollutants and other EU legislation.
Under the proposal, the new framework would:
- Define ECHA’s role and tasks in a single horizontal regulation, consolidating provisions currently spread across REACH and other EU chemicals legislation and clarifying ECHA’s responsibilities across multiple regulatory regimes.
- Update governance arrangements, including the roles and functioning of the Management Board and the Executive Director. The aim is to improve oversight, transparency, and decision-making efficiency in light of ECHA’s expanded mandate.
- Address ECHA’s long-term financial sustainability, including the structure of fees, charges and EU budget contributions. This would respond to the declining fee income under REACH and the increasing workload across EU chemicals legislation.
- Strengthen the functioning of ECHA’s scientific committees, notably by reinforcing the obligations of Member States to nominate experts, increasing the flexibility of committee composition, and improving ECHA’s capacity to deliver timely scientific opinions.
Council Position and Next Steps
By agreeing its position, the Council has established its negotiating mandate for discussions with the European Parliament under the ordinary legislative procedure. The Council’s approach broadly follows the European Commission’s original proposal, presented in July 2025. The file will now move forward once the European Parliament adopts its position, after which interinstitutional negotiations are expected to begin.
If adopted, the regulation would represent a structural change in EU chemicals governance, providing ECHA with a consolidated legal and operational framework aligned with its expanded role under EU chemicals policy.
