Council and European Parliament negotiators have reached a political agreement on the Commission’s “Omnibus VI” simplification package, covering regulations on cosmetics, chemical classification, labelling and packaging (CLP), and fertilizer products. The co-legislators agreed to phase out cosmetics containing banned “CMR” substances (carcinogenic, mutagenic, and toxic to reproduction) faster than originally proposed by the Commission. Once the new rules take effect, when the continued use of a substance is no longer justified, companies will have 6 months to stop placing affected products on the market and 12 months before a full sales ban — compared to the 12 and 24 months originally proposed by the Commission, though this transition period is already longer than current rules, which provide no phasing-out period at all.
Companies wishing to continue using a substance will have up to 12 months from its new classification to request a derogation, and the phase-out deadline will only begin once a decision on that request has been made. If a derogation is rejected on safety grounds, the company will have 3 months to stop placing products on the market and 9 months before a full sales ban. In cases where the request is rejected due to the availability of a suitable alternative, those periods will be 24 and 36 months respectively.
The co-legislators also decided not to exempt CMR substances based on exposure through ingestion or inhalation, contrary to the Commission’s proposal. They also reinstated the requirement for cosmetic products containing nanomaterials to be notified to the Commission before being placed on the market — though not 6 months earlier than is currently required.
To accelerate the substitution of hazardous substances in cosmetic products, the Commission will draw up guidelines identifying the analysis of alternatives one year after the legislation enters into force.
Classification, labelling, and packaging of chemicals
The co-legislators agreed on revisions to the recently amended CLP regulation to enable more flexible rules for classifying and labelling chemical products — including more legible labels, broader use of digital labelling, and a relaxation of advertising rules — all aimed at reducing costs and complexity while maintaining consumer protection.
It was agreed that labelling elements must be clearly legible for consumers. When a substance is made available to the general public, the label text must use a font size with a height equal to or greater than 1.2 mm. When the package content does not exceed 125 ml, the font height must be equal to or greater than 0.9 mm.
To address practical labelling challenges while ensuring that full hazard information remains available on the outside of packaging, the co-legislators agreed that for chemical products in containers of up to 10 ml, certain labelling elements (excluding hazard pictograms) may be provided via a digital label.
For regulatory clarity and to address potential public health concerns, the co-legislators established a specific 15-month deadline for suppliers to update labels when a new assessment leads to a more stringent classification — replacing the Commission’s proposal that this be done “without undue delay.”
To avoid fragmented implementation timelines, Parliament last year postponed the application of most parts of the revised CLP regulation to 1 January 2028.
Fertilizers
The co-legislators agreed to simplify the EU Fertilising Products Regulation [(EU) 2019/1009] in order to support EU farmers and foster innovation and competitiveness in the fertiliser sector, without compromising the protection of human health and the environment.
Although the Commission had proposed replacing the extended registration requirement for substances used in fertilising products with the standard REACH regime, the co-legislators chose to retain the registration obligation for substances with a harmonised classification as substances of very high concern.
Dimitris Tsiodras (EPP, Greece), rapporteur for the Committee on Environment, Climate and Food Safety, stated: “With this agreement, we have shown that simplification and a high level of protection can go hand in hand. We have reduced unnecessary burdens on businesses, strengthened the visibility of safety information for consumers, and provided greater legal certainty for industry — all while fully maintaining Europe’s high standards for health and environmental protection.”
Piotr Müller (Conservatives, Poland), rapporteur for the Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection, stated: “We welcome this political agreement as a significant step forward for European industry. Our shared goal was to cut red tape and support growth in the chemicals, cosmetics, and fertilisers sectors. Could we have gone further? Certainly. There are issues we will continue to push on in future reviews. Nevertheless, today’s outcome is a real win for EU competitiveness.”
The informal agreement must now be formally approved by both Parliament and the Council. It will then enter into force 20 days after its publication in the Official Journal of the EU.
The general chemicals regulation forms part of a broader effort to simplify EU legislation and reduce administrative burdens, helping businesses to innovate and grow in line with the Draghi Report on EU competitiveness.
The chemical industry comprises 29,000 companies providing 1.2 million direct jobs and supporting 19 million people across supply chains. According to the Commission, the proposed measures to reduce compliance costs and ease administrative burdens are expected to save the sector at least €363 million per year. In July 2025, the Commission also presented an action plan for the European chemical industry.
