elni Review 2006, pp. 7-15. https://doi.org/10.46850/elni.2006.002

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. Within this context, a study on behalf of the German Federal Environmental Agency (Umweltbundesamt – UBA) was performed. The study’s initial hypothesis was that support - in the form of (technical and organisational) guidance specific to each type of economic actor - can help to push forward the necessary innovation and co-operation 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. For this reason, the question of possible amendments to the current draft of the Regulation was also addressed.

Access full article

References

1. Führ, M./Heitmann, K./Koch, L./Ahrens, A., Krieger, N., Risk management under REACh - Requirements of technical and organisational guidance for producers, importers and downstream users (FKZ 204 67 462/04). DOI: https://doi.org/10.46850/elni.2006.002.  
2. M. Führ/U. Lahl, Self-responsibility as a regulatory concept – as illustrated by the REACh decision-making process, in: Th. Ormond/M. Führ/R. Barth: Environmental law and policy at the turn to the 21st century (Lexxion 2006). p. 209-220.
3. Führ, M./Bizer, K., REACh as a paradigm shift in chemical policy - responsive regulation and behavioural models, Journal of Cleaner Production (JCLP) 15 (2007), Elsevier, Exeter (UK), 327 – 334. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2005.10.003.
4. REACh-Proposal, Common position adopted by the Council, June 12, 2006 (Doc. 7524/06).
5. Strategic Partnership on REACH Testing.
6. REACh Helpdesk der Sonderforschungsgruppe Institutionenanalyse (sofia).
7. Führ, M./Merenyi, S., Interface Problems between EC Chemicals Law and sector specific Environmental Legislation (IPPC/WFD), Dessau 2005.
8. Führ, M./Merenyi, S., Mind the Gap - Interface Problems between EC Chemicals Law and sectoral environmental legislation, Review of European and International Environmental Law (RECIEL) 15 2006 (3), p. 281-292. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9388.2006.00533.x.