The tightening of the EU law to prevent accidents with hazardous chemicals, closer to be a reality
The Committee of Permanent Representatives of the Member States endorsed the compromise text previously agreed by the Council and the Parliament to tighten the requirements of the Seveso directive in order to prevent accidents with hazardous chemicals such as fireworks. This decision paves the way towards its formal adoption by the Council.
The compromise text agreed between the Council and the European Parliament on the Seveso III Directive regarding the control of major-accident hazards involving dangerous substances, was endorsed by the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the Member States. The aim of the directive is to prevent accidents with hazardous substances in industry and to mitigate the consequences of accidents on humans and the environment.
The Commission proposal on this topic was presented on December 2010 and aims to replace the current Seveso II Directive which applies to around 10.000 establishments in the EU from 1 of June 2015. Its main objectives are greater openness to citizens because the authorities will publish information on the internet on the location of Seveso sites as well as information on how to react in an emergency; all Seveso sites will have to prepare an accident prevention policy, which means that Seveso sites will have to progressively improve on their level of safety; EU citizens will have access to testing the authorities decisions on subjects such as planning decisions on the required distance between Seveso sites and housing in the courts; and more of the sites that handle substances that are dangerous to inhale will be covered by the directive.
In particular, Seveso sites are companies which store large amounts of dangerous substances such as fireworks, oil and petrol or toxic chemicals. The Seveso directive contains guidelines on the prevention of major accidents with dangerous substances as well as guidelines on reducing the consequences of accidents. The recast of the Directive has partly been in response to new globalised rules on classification of chemical substances.