The New Approach in Setting Product Standards for Safety, Environmental Protection and Human Health
Introduction
The use of the New Approach in European legislation as introduced in 1985 has given rise to concerns as to whether this approach is suitable or sufficient where the task for the standard setters includes securing environmental and (long-term) health protection. For example, only one of the five packaging standards produced by the European standardisation body CEN for the Packaging and Packaging Waste, that relating to composting, has been fully approved by the European Commission under the New Approach procedure.
In light of those concerns, the Danish Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Danish Environmental Protection Agency (Danish EPA) agreed to sponsor a Workshop that took place in Copenhagen on 29-30 November 2001. Participants included officials from Member State ministries of environment and industry as well as the European Commission, representatives from the European standardisation bodies, industries concerned, non-governmental organisations representing environmental and consumer interests, and academics. Appendix D of this Report provides a full list of participants.
The workshop was intended to provide an opportunity for sharing experiences and for focussed discussions aimed at developing recommendations for potential solutions at national and European levels. Two issues were regarded as central:
 | Is the New Approach concept able to ensure high levels of protection for humankind and the environment? |
| Is the standardisation process able to provide a structure that furthers innovation, and, in particular, innovation that leads to more environmentally sustainable products and production forms? In other words, is the New Approach an applicable tool in an integrated product policy (IPP) for promoting environmental product innovation? |
At the time of the workshop, the European Commission was in the process of preparing a White Paper on an Integrated Product Policy. The workshop was therefore also intended as a contribution to this European process.
These proceedings provide the workshop agenda, the background papers prepared before the workshop, and summaries of the presentations and the subsequent discussions.
Additional information, including speakers’ presentations (overheads and other material) has been compiled into an online report (Workshop on the New Approach, Copenhagen, 29-30 Nov. 2001, Working Report no. 23/2002) published by the Danish EPA. This report is available on the Internet at the Danish EPA website: http://www.mst.dk/
The conclusions expressed in this document are those of the consultants and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Danish Ministry of Environment and the Danish EPA.