Document 12
Ref. Ares(2020)2896947 - 04/06/2020
From:
CAB SINKEVICIUS CONTACT
Sent:
jeudi 4 juin 2020 16:52
To:
CAB SINKEVICIUS ARCHIVES
Subject:
FW: EDC-Free Europe letter re. endocrine disrupting
chemicals & Chemicals Strategy for Sustainabiityactions
Attachments:
2020 06 04 EDC Free Europe meeting request EDCs and
Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability.pdf
From:
@edc-free-europe.org>
Sent: Thursday, June 4, 2020 1:05 PM
To: CAB SINKEVICIUS CONTACT <xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx>; CAB KYRIAKIDES
CONTACT <xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx>; CAB TIMMERMANS CONTACT
@ec.europa.eu>
Cc:
@env-health.org>
Subject: EDC-Free Europe letter re. endocrine disrupting chemicals & Chemicals Strategy for
Sustainabiityactions
Dear Sir/ Madam,
Re. EDC-Free Europe - meeting request re. endocrine disrupting chemicals & Chemicals
Strategy for Sustainability
Please find attached a letter with a meeting request from the
EDC-Free Europe
coalition to the attention of Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevius, cc Vice President
Frans Timmermans and Commissioner Stella Kyriakides, regarding the forthcoming
Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability and endocrine disrupting chemicals.
EDC-Free Europe is a coalition of public interest groups representing more than
70 environmental, health, women’s and consumer groups across Europe who
share a concern about hormone disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and their impact on
our health and wildlife. Campaign partners include trade unions, consumers,
public health and healthcare professionals, advocates for cancer prevention,
environmentalists and women’s groups. Website: http://www.edc-free-
europe.org/ The secretariat is hosted by HEAL Transparency Register number: 00723343929-
96
With best regards
EDC-Free Europe Campaign Coordinator
Mobile: +
E-mail | Website | About the Campaign | Twitter | Facebook | Transparency The EDC-Free Europe
secretariat is hosted by the Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL).
Ref. Ares(2020)2896947 - 04/06/2020
Dear Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius
CC: Vice President Frans Timmermans, Commissioner Stella Kyriakides
4 June 2020
Re: Meeting request on Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals and EC Chemicals Strategy for
Sustainability
We are writing to you on behalf of the EDC-Free Europe [1], a coalition of public interest
groups representing more than 70 environmental, health, women’s and consumer groups
across Europe who share a concern about hormone-disrupting chemicals and their
impact on our health and wildlife.
As part of our feedback to the Roadmap on Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability, we
would be grateful to have the opportunity to have a virtual meeting with you to share our
views on what we consider to be essential benchmarks for endocrine disrupting chemicals
(EDCs) to be addressed in this framework.
We would like to get the assurance that the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability will be
the tool to finally deliver a comprehensive action plan on EDCs, with immediate actions
and mid-term-measures to effectively minimise people's exposure to EDCs without further
delay, a commitment on hold since it was announced in 2013 with the 7th EAP.
The November 2018 EC Communication “Towards a Comprehensive EU framework on
endocrine disruptors (ED)” laid out some key principles and goals for the “EU strategic
approach on EDCs”, but it did not include a real action plan with specific measures and
timelines on how to reach these objectives.
A report from leading scientists on endocrine science presented to the European
Parliament in April 2019 stressed again that the EU population is widely exposed to known
and suspected EDCs [3] with annual costs related to exposure to EDCs estimated to be
163 billion Euros [4].
In our meeting with you, we would like in particular to exchange views on proposals to:
-
Effectively catch up with the state of knowledge on EDCs and develop
a renewed legislative framework allowing for an horizontal approach to
identify and regulate EDCs in all sectors in order to effectively deliver on the
zero pollution ambition for exposure to EDCs in all sectors;
-
Implement with ambition current provisions in sectoral legislation
addressing EDCs, in particular with REACH, the Pesticides & Biocides
Regulations, the Cosmetics Regulation, giving full force to the precautionary
principle;
-
Establish an EU-list of known and suspected EDCs to prioritise rapid
action to control their use, improve transparency and awareness of supply
chains and the public;
-
Protect us from exposure to chemical mixture including EDCs, to which
we are all exposed daily;
-
Enhance public awareness of EDCs, including immediate measures of
information and prevention based on all the information already available.
These requests build on EDC-Free Europe eight demands for an EU EDC strategy and
are complementary to the three
zero pollution goals in the sphere of chemicals outlined
in the joint letter from twenty five health and environment NGOs including several
members of the EDC-Free Europe Coalition: “
A chemicals strategy as part of the
European Green Deal: time to deliver” (8 November 2019) [4]
.
In the absence of improved EU regulations on EDCs and better implementation of current
ones, people remain exposed every day to these chemicals through food contact
materials, toys, personal care products, furniture, food, water, air pollution, with
consequences also for the generations to come.
Our coalition counts on seeing and contributing to tangible progress and results across
the EU for much better protection against EDC exposure. This is also an opportunity for
the EU to take a global leadership position to put health at the heart of its recovery
policies.
Spokesperson for the EDC-Free Europe coalition
, Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL)
About the EDC-Free Europe coalition: EDC-Free Europe is a coalition of public interest groups
representing more than 70 environmental, health, women’s and consumer groups across Europe who share
a concern about hormone disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and their impact on our health and wildlife.
Campaign partners include trade unions, consumers, public health and healthcare professionals, advocates
for cancer prevention, environmentalists and women’s groups. The secretariat is hosted by HEAL
Transparency Register number: 00723343929-96. Website: http://www.edc-free-europe.org/
2
[1] https://www.edc-free-europe.org/about-us
[2] Study Requested by the PETI committee, European Parliament, “Endocrine Disruptors : from Scientific
Evidence to Human Health Protection”, Barbara Demeneix, Remy Slama, March 2019.
[3] Burden of disease and costs of exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals in the European Union: an
updated analysis, L. Trasande et al. 2016 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5244983/
[4] “A chemicals strategy as part of the European Green Deal: time to deliver” 8 November 2019, letter
from 25 Environment & Health NGOs https://mk0eeborgicuypctuf7e.kinstacdn.com/wp-
content/uploads/2019/11/NGO-Letter-to-Ursula-VDL_EGD_final.pdf - Annexe Towards a Non Toxic
Environment – NGOs Chemical Policy asks for the New Commission https://www.env-health.org/wp-
content/uploads/2019/11/Annex-to-Letter-to-Ursula-VDL_final.pdf
3
Document Outline