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 May 12th 2025.
Council and Parliament reached provisional agreement on Soil Monitoring Directive
On 10 April, the Council and the Parliament reached a provisional agreement on the Soil Monitoring Directive. The Directive establishes a monitoring framework to assess soil health and address contaminated sites. According to the Council press release, ‘first steps towards monitoring of PFAS and pesticides were agreed by the co-legislators’. The text of the agreement is not yet publicly available. More details will be provided in the next regulatory watch editions.
Council and Parliament reached provisional agreement on Toy Safety Regulation
On 10 April, the Council and the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement on the Toy Safety Regulation. According to the Council press release, the agreement ‘introduces a limited ban on the intentional use of PFAS in toys (with exemptions for toy components necessary for electronic or electric functions of the toy where the substance or mixture is fully inaccessible to children)’. The text of the agreement is not yet publicly available. More details will be provided in the next regulatory watch editions.
Member States back restriction of PFAS in firefighting foams
During the meeting of the REACH Committee on 29 April 2025, nearly all Member States (26 out of 27) voted in favour of the draft regulation introducing a restriction of PFAS in firefighting foams. The restriction sets a maximum concentration of 1 mg/L for the sum of all PFAS in firefighting foams. The restriction provides a ten-year transition period for firefighting foams used in installations belonging to the offshore oil and gas industry, military vessels, civilian ships, industrial sites covered by the Seveso Directive. Transitional periods are also provided for the use of firefighting foams containing PFAS above the set threshold in public fire services (18 months) and portable fire extinguishers (31 December 2030). The restriction also sets out labelling requirements applicable to fighting foams containing PFAS above the set threshold and to the stock of not-utilised firefighting foams and PFAS-containing waste.
European Parliament adopts its resolution on the European Water Resilience Strategy Report
On 7 May, the European Parliament adopted in plenary session its resolution on the European Water Resilience Strategy. The final resolution incorporates part of the ENVI Committee’s draft report on water pollution, calling on the Commission to establish a ‘comprehensive EU-wide quality standards for PFAS in groundwater and surface water’, to address ‘pollution from pharmaceuticals, bisphenols and other emerging pollutants’ and to increase ‘monitoring of pesticide residues in water bodies and enforcement of pesticide application regulations’. The final resolution contains a new paragraph that ‘calls on the Commission to propose updated limits on PFAS in drinking water, taking into account the latest scientific knowledge’.
The Parliament also introduced a new paragraph concerning sewage sludge, recognising the importance of treated sludge as a source of fertiliser and emphasising ‘the importance of preventing PFAS, heavy metals, microplastics and other harmful substances from entering sewer networks in order to enable the safe and sustainable use of high-quality sewage sludge in agriculture’.
Another new element of the resolution is the addition of a paragraph related to the universal PFAS restriction, stressing that ‘essential uses of PFAS in critical sectors’, such as medical devices, pharmaceuticals or critical for the energy transition, ‘are not endangered’, and calling on the Commission to phase out PFAS in consumer goods, but allowing their use ‘where there are no safe alternatives’. An exchange of views between the ENVI Committee and the Commission on EU actions related to PFAS on 15 April 2025 had shown divergences between political groups, some of them (EPP and ECR) calling to avoid a ‘blanket ban’.
Finally, the European Parliament introduced a new paragraph on the EPR system under the revised Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive, expressing concerns regarding the impact of the EPR system on the pharmaceutical sector and in particular on the ‘availability and affordability’ of medicines, and calling on the Commission to reassess the impact on this sector.
Commission tightens PFOS limits in POPs Regulation
On 14 April 2025, the Commission adopted a draft delegated regulation amending the Persistent Organic Pollutant (POP) Regulation regarding PFOS. The draft regulation introduces an Unintentional Trace Contaminant (UTC) limit value for PFOS and its salts of 0,025 mg/kg (in line with the one for PFOA). It reduces the UTC limit value for PFOS-related compounds in substances, mixtures and articles to 1 mg/kg (bringing it in line with the one for PFOA). Both limits will apply from 3 December 2025. The regulation also removes the specific exemption for the use of PFOS as mist suppressant for non-decorative hard-chromium plating.
On 5 May, the Commission also adopted the amendment to the POP Regulation extending the the expiry date of the specific exemption for the use for fire-fighting foams (already installed in systems) containing PFOA, its salts and PFOA related substances until 3 December 2025.
ECHA identifies regulatory actions for several groups of PMT / vPvM substances
During the month of April, ECHA published several assessments of regulatory needs, identifying potential PMT / vPvM substances and suggesting follow-up regulatory actions:
- Assessment of regulatory needs for Primary diaminobenzenes and derivatives: identifies nine substances with potential PMT/vPvM hazard, proposes compliance checks and CLH to clarify PMT/vPvM hazard and suggests potential restrictions of certain professional uses in cosmetics, coatings, adhesives, and polymer production if hazard confirmed.
- Assessment of regulatory needs for Amine-Terminated Aliphatic Ethers: identifies seven substances with potential PMT/vPvM hazard, proposes compliance checks and CLH to clarify PMT/vPvM hazard and suggests potential restriction of some professional uses where there is high release potential into the environment from use in adhesives, sealants, paints, coatings and cleaning products if hazard confirmed.
- Assessment of regulatory needs for tall oils: identifies potential PMT / vPvM hazard for eight substances and proposes to carry out first compliance checks, which may be followed by CLH to confirm the PMT/vPvM hazard.
- Assessment of regulatory needs for Phenyl-terminated non-linear alcohols and their aliphatic esters: proposes compliance checks for three substances to generate data clarifying PMT/vPvM hazards, which may be followed by CLH.
Poland launches legal challenge against UWWTD’s EPR system before CJEU
The Polish government brough action before the Court of Justice of the European Union on 10 March 2025 (details published on 22 April) against Article 9 of the revised Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive introducing an extended producer responsibility scheme in which producers of pharmaceuticals and cosmetics would contribute a minimum of 80% of the costs of quaternary treatment. Poland calls for the annulment of the provision based on the claim that the EPR scheme introduced by the Directive is in breach of the polluter pays principle and the principle of equal treatment as it places the responsibility solely on the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industry ‘while ignoring other categories of producers which contribute to the emission of those pollutants’. According to the applicant, the EPR scheme also breaches the proportionality principle ‘by establishing measures which incur costs that are disproportionate to the attainment of the objectives pursued’. This legal action follows similar complaints brought before the Court by the cosmetics and pharmaceutical industry in March, which presented similar arguments to those of Poland to call for an amendment of the EPR scheme.
Upcoming consultation deadlines:
- Deadline to provide feedback to the Call for evidence and respond to the public consultation on the evaluation of the Good Laboratory Practices Directives: 6 June 2025.
- Deadline to respond to the public consultation on the evaluation of the Cosmetic Products Regulation: 28 July 2025.
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 2025-04-09.
ZeroPM Regulatory Watch Year in Review 2024
Need a recap of all the updates on EU policy initiatives contributing to the prevention, prioritisation and removal of PFAS and PMT/vPvM substances in 2024? We have compiled the biggest updates in 2024, as well as a list of issues we are looking towards in 2025 in the following document, which 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 can be found below.
Please see also our video explaining the ZeroPM regulatory watch!
