External evaluations by an international committee of the scientific risk assessment and decision-making processes of the Netherlands Competent Authority for the authorisation of plant protection products and biocides (Ctgb) were conducted in 2013 and 2018. Based on the experience drawn from them, a general guidance for such visitations is suggested. An international visitation committee examined the structure and management of the Authority, its human resources and staff policy, the scientific processes and output, the documentation and communication of its decisions and the mechanisms for keeping up to date with international scientific developments. Attention was paid to the degree of openness and transparency throughout the organisation and in particular when dealing with confidential information. From the experience gained it can be concluded that visitations not aiming at finding mistakes and omissions but instead focusing on recommendations and constructive suggestions will result in cooperation, mutual trust and acceptance of the recommendations made. A follow-up visitation after a few years can be effective in maintaining a traceable, high-level scientific output. In view of the strong drive towards the European Union-wide harmonisation of the regulatory practices of hazardous chemicals, a voluntary evaluation of regulatory authorities’ scientific performance is recommended as a means for organisational learning.

For the protection of biodiversity, the German Federal Environmental Agency (UBA) pursues the goal of establishing compensation areas to balance unavoidable indirect effects on nature and the environment caused by the application of plant protection products. Whether there is a legal basis for this within either European Union or national law is one of the most debated and pressing issues currently in the authorisation procedure for plant protection products in Germany. The purpose of this article is to provide a comprehensive legal assessment of whether it is legally permissible to make plant protection product authorisations contingent to compensatory application provisions to protect biodiversity.

This paper focuses on the legal adoption and possible implications of the proposed per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) restriction. In the case of PFAS, this restriction puts value on the regulatory efforts to implement far-reaching and ambitious targets amid a high level of scientific uncertainty. The purpose of this paper is to present a report rather than conducting an in-depth analysis of the mentioned field. Overall, the paper argues that such a daring decision might be justified by the precautionary principle. However, the implementation might raise opposition from the stakeholders’ side and might take longer than initially anticipated, most likely with additional derogations concerning essential goods that do not currently have safe alternatives.

Given the state of the climate emergency, European Union (EU) cities must find innovative ways to achieve a sustainable and decarbonised urban mobility trajectory. This requires integrated and cross-sectoral approaches that enable all sectors influencing such mobility to contribute to this goal. Building on the concept of the climate-connected city and drawing on an extensive empirical investigation of two Dutch cities (Rotterdam and Maastricht), this study reflects on how decarbonisation targets are integrated with other sustainability objectives across all policies and levels involved in reconfiguring mobility towards an environmentally sustainable model. The study finds that spatial development tools and processes, in combination with regulatory instruments imposing strict limits on emissions, can strengthen cross-sectoral support for the behavioural changes needed to decarbonise urban mobility. However, this integrative dynamic may be countered by local economic actors and by national and EU economic and fiscal instruments, whose narrow focus on reducing vehicle emissions and expanding road capacity forces cities to dilute their sustainable mobility policies. This suggests that in order to accelerate the decarbonisation of urban mobility, these instruments should be aligned with a broader set of sustainability goals and solutions and be combined with greater attention being given to the urban dimension into national and European transport policies.

The specific status of active substance candidates for substitution (CfS) is detailed by Article 24 of plant protection Commission Regulation EC No 1107/2009 (PPP Regulation). The criteria of candidates for substitution are now clearly defined: low acceptable daily intake/acute reference dose/acceptable operator exposure level or two persistent, bio-accumulative or toxic criteria, or by nature of the critical effects: non-active isomers, carcinogen 1A/1B, toxic for reproduction 1A/1B or endocrine disruption properties, with these later properties now being well characterised. The total number of active substances CfS has been in constant evolution since 2011, with the first batch of candidates for substitution being published in 2015 and updated since then. After a slow decrease, growth is again observed, with another list of active substances being granted this status. CfS are substances targeted by the PPP Regulation that are supposed to be cancelled or non-renewed at the active substance level or substituted at the market authorisation level. CfS are also supposed to be replaced by substances with better toxicological profiles. However, after five years of implementation of the status, their number, which is intended to decrease, remains high, at sixty residual CfS. We exhibit here their evolution.

Grand challenges are shaping twenty-first-century politics. Threats connected to health, climate, demographics and welfare are increasingly intruding on the lives of citizens. Still, governments are often found off-guard, and policymakers need strategies grounded in longer-term perspectives. Strategic foresight (SF) helps us to design and shape policies to prepare to withstand shocks, anticipating and adapting to changes. However, as governments work towards embedding SF into their policymaking processes, the empirical evidence suggests that applications are still piecemeal and predominantly limited to the agenda-settings and policy formulation stages. In this article, we argue that to drive anticipatory governance, foresight needs to be applied at all stages of the policy cycle, including in evaluating policies to draw lessons for future interventions. We maintain that considering SF systemically throughout the policymaking cycle, from agenda setting to evaluation, strengthens anticipatory governance.

Climate change emergency requires rapide and determined action. The procrastination of the French state is not without consequences. One of them is that the High Administrative Court (Conseil d'Etat) found that climate risk is not taken seriously enough and is insufficiently addressed. In two decisions ruled in 2020 and 2021, the Conseil d'Etat in France had the opportunity to express itself on these issues. This is the case known as “Grande Synthe”, referring to the city that filed the petition before the High Court, in an appeal for “exces de pouvoir” –exces of power -, asking the administration to take further action in the fight against climate change. Civil society in France is indeed becoming impatient and taking legal action challenging the lack of ambition of the State in climate matters. The decision commented here will no doubt serve as a model for other similar decisions and for other European countries. It will lead to an increase of climate litigation in France and abroad.

This piece addresses Case C-458/19 P before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) concerning a substance of long-term exposure, namely bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP). The case concerned the interplay of two complex procedures of European chemical law, namely: the procedure for authorising the use of a substance listed in Annex XIV of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 (REACH Regulation); and the procedure for listing a substance in Annex XIV of the REACH Regulation on the basis of its intrinsic properties as a substance of very high concern for the risks it poses, or may pose, to human and environmental health. The significance of this judgment is that it provides a better understanding of how Article 60(4) of the REACH Regulation is interpreted in an analogous manner in relation to other provisions of the same Regulation. Whether DEHP is a question of reproductive toxicity (Article 57(c) of the REACH Regulation) or endocrine-disrupting properties (Article 57(f) of the REACH Regulation), this judgment offers insights into the limits of the CJEU’s willingness and/or ability to use a teleological approach to interpret legislation in this area. Furthermore, this work supports the possibility of applying the principle of intergenerational equity to issues related to long-term exposure such as this one.

Administrative Tribunal of Luxembourg, 15 July 2022, case no 44377 and Court of Appeal of Luxembourg, 31 March 2023, case no 47873C

On 15 July 2022, the Administrative Tribunal of Luxembourg annulled the decisions by which the Luxembourg Minister for Agriculture, Viticulture, and Consumer Protection had banned all glyphosate-based products. On 31 March 2023, the Court of Appeal upheld the ruling of the Administrative Tribunal. The ground of annulment was the breach by the Luxembourg State of the adversarial principle enshrined in Article 9 of the Grand-Ducal Regulation of 8 June 1979. Yet, for the sake of completeness, the Administrative Tribunal and the Court of Appeal verified the compliance of the decisions banning glyphosate-based products with Articles 36, 41 and 44 of Regulation no 1107/2009. Against this backdrop, this case note provides a critical assessment of the rulings of the Administrative Tribunal and the Court of Appeal from the perspective of European Union law. This analysis might prove to be useful as it enables us to shed light on the conditions allowing Member States to withdraw the authorisation of plant protection products under Regulation no 1107/2009 as well as to identify the hurdles that Member States might need to overcome when banning glyphosate-based products from their territory.