The status of socio-economic analysis in the authorisation and restriction dossiers: micro-grounds for compromise all along the implementation of REACH

Chapter 7 shows how, on the basis of SEA, almost all of the authorization applications were granted, despite the major flaws in the dossiers identified by the SEAC. The authorization procedure thus became the last regulatory mean to keep substances recognized as dangerous on the market. The information used in SEA is provided by the applicant and very difficult to verify by the SEAC expert, the information submitted by producers of alternatives is globally ignored by the ECHA, the SEAC keeps the focus on the needs of the Commission - all of these leave the regulated industry a large space for maneuver. However, authorities do not capitulate to the interests of the industry, because not only the granted authorizations are temporary, but the time and the conditions of the authorization have often been adapted to "put pressure" on the industry, encouraging them to initiate a substitution of the problematic substance.