As the EU Green Deal roles out, the ZeroPM regulatory watch will announce upcoming initiatives related to persistent and mobile substances. Our most recent update was prepared on June 10th, 2026.
RAC adopts harmonised classification of TFA as PMT and vPvM substance
At the meeting of the Risk Assessment Committee (RAC) that took place on 1-5 June, Committee members adopted their opinions on the proposals for the harmonised classification and labelling of trifluoroacetic acid and sodium trifluoroacetate. The RAC retained for both substance groups the three new hazard classes proposed: reprotoxic 1B, PMT and vPvM. Once finalised, the RAC opinion will be sent to the Commission, which will prepare and adopt the delegated act after approval of the CARACAL expert group.
Commission Roadmap outlines 22 actions to phase out animal testing for chemical safety assessments
On 1 June, the European Commission published a ‘Roadmap towards phasing out animal testing for chemical safety assessments’. The Roadmap lists 22 actions aiming to gradually phase out animal testing for chemical safety assessments in 15 areas including chemicals for industrial and consumer uses, pesticides and biocides, pharmaceuticals, and food and feed additives. The Roadmap is based on three pillars – supporting regulatory change, improving validation and regulatory acceptance of non-animal approaches (pillar 1), research, innovation to develop non-animal approaches (pillar 2) and improving collaboration at EU and international level to facilitate the implementation (pillar 3).
As part of the implementation of the Roadmap, the Commission will set up a mechanism to identify regulatory needs for alternative approaches to animal testing. A report on key areas of regulatory needs for alternatives to animal testing will be published in 2027 and updated every three years. The aim of this mechanism is to focus validation, qualification and standardisation on methods that regulators really need.
The roadmap states that the move to non-animal assessment frameworks will require revisions to some legislation or guidance, including REACH Annexes. The Staff Working Document accompanying the Roadmap identifies short-term technical amendments to Annexes VII–X to the REACH Regulation to support the use of computational models for acute oral toxicity and pharmacokinetic modelling as replacements for in vivo studies and recommends amending Annex XI to allow tiered approaches using in silico, in vitro and Smart study designs.
Consultation on socio-economic aspects of PFAS restriction gathers over 3 000 comments
The consultation on the draft opinion of the Socio-Economic Analysis Committee (SEAC) concerning the PFAS restriction closed on 25 May 2026, and received, according to ECHA, 3511 comments, from more than 3 200 organisations and 250 individuals, from 44 countries. Comments will be assessed by the SEAC, which is expected to adopt its final opinion by the end of the year.
ECHA identifies mobility of persistent substances as key research area
ECHA published on 9 June an updated Key Areas of Regulatory Challenge Report, which identifies areas where further regulatory research is needed to address gaps in risk assessment and strengthen chemicals safety. In the new report, ECHA identifies ‘mobility of persistent substances, including the need for improved methods and models to identify contaminants that can spread widely in water systems’ as a new key research area.
Commission publishes guidance on the application of the Water Framework Directive to project permitting
As announced in the RESourceEU Action Plan from December 2025, the European Commission issued in May a ‘Guidance for the implementation of the Water Framework Directive during the permitting of new projects and existing activities with a particular focus on the mining sector’. The guidance aims to clarify the application of the principle of non-deterioration and in particular the application of the new exemptions that were recently introduced in the revision of the Water Framework Directive (Directive (EU)2026/805). The revision introduced two new exemptions to ease permitting for projects with only short-term impacts and projects relocating already polluted water or sediments. These new exemptions were meant to facilitate in particular the authorisation of new mining or metal processing projects. The Commission announced a targeted revision of the Water Framework Directive for Q2 2026 aiming to further facilitate permitting for mining projects, despite these flexibilities already introduced in the Directive.
Upcoming consultation deadlines:
No deadlines this month!
Gantt Chart of upcoming actions related to persistent and mobile substances
Spreadsheet for further information
The ZeroPM regulatory watch itself is presented in this spreadsheet, which contains links for further information. This can be downloaded below.
The ZeroPM regulatory watch was last updated on 2026-05-08.
ZeroPM Regulatory Watch Year in Review 2025
2025 was a huge and at times tumultuous year for updates on EU policy initiatives contributing to the prevention, prioritisation and removal of PFAS and PMT/vPvM substances. Need a recap? We have compiled the biggest updates in 2025, as well as a list of issues we are looking towards in 2026 in the following document, which can be downloaded here.
ZeroPM Regulatory Watch Year in Review 2024
The recap of all the updates on EU policy initiatives contributing on PFAS and and PMT/vPvM substances during 2023 can be downloaded here.
ZeroPM Regulatory Watch Year in Review 2023
The recap of all the updates on EU policy initiatives contributing on PFAS and and PMT/vPvM substances during 2023 can be found below.
Please see also our video explaining the ZeroPM regulatory watch!
