REACH heading towards conciliation[fr][de] 

"The conditions for an agreement were not there yesterday. There has got to be more political will," Guido Sacconi MEP (PES, Italy) told a news conference on 28 November.

Council, Parliament and the Commission will hold a final round of negotiations Thursday (30 November) and Friday (1 December). But the chances of reaching a compromise deal to bring to Parliament for a vote on 12 December look increasingly slim.

Sacconi said there was "a 50-50 chance" of a deal. Otherwise, he said, MEPs will vote on a text that cannot be accepted by member states, with the process ending in a last-chance conciliation procedure.

Substitution remains the outstanding issue, with Sacconi asking for more clarity as to how carcinogens and other highly toxic substances can be authorised. "When there are alternatives, substitution must be obligatory," he insists.

But the Council maintains its position that such substances should be given a green light if they are "adequately controlled". For Sacconi, there must be some guarantee that they will eventually be replaced, something that may come in the form of "an R&D plan".

Sacconi's most vocal opponents in the Council include Germany, the UK, Malta and Poland, NGOs said. Those supporting stricter substitution rules include France, the Benelux countries, Denmark, Sweden and Hungary.

The other sticking point relates to the role of the future agency responsible for approving or rejecting chemicals. Sacconi insists that Parliament appoints two people on the agency's management board, perhaps former MEPs. But the Council has so far refused to give in.

The Commission's role in the negotiations is also raising eyebrows. In theory, it is supposed to act as a deal-broker in the trialogue meetings but "it is not doing anything", a Parliament source close to the negotiations said.