Regulation is paradoxical: in one way, it exists to limit and constrain our actions. To take an example from our sector, we cannot just put anything we want on cosmetic product labels. But it also liberates us: with our common approach to labeling, we have more freedom to export within the EU.

Anti-EU voices like to stress the first part (the constraint), but not the second. Hence the euro-myths about rules on the curvature of bananas. But we forget the second part at our peril: regulation should be genuinely liberating – that, after all, is what the single market is all about.

 

Regulation usually addresses objectives we can all agree on. For example, we all want products to be safe, and consumers to be protected. But regulation goes wrong when the constraint goes beyond what is strictly necessary, or when the burden of the regulation outweighs any possible advantage.

 

Regulators and policy makers try their best to get the balance right. They don’t always manage to do so. When regulation is unbalanced, we risk undermining the competitiveness of European business, without any real benefit for consumers.

 

The Commission has publicly committed itself to Better Regulation –meaning in effect, a more rigorous approach to ensuring that the essential aims of regulation are met, without unnecessary and disproportionate impacts, (Better Regulation does not mean ‘no regulation’, or lower safety standards. No one in our sector wants that.)

 

The initiative is welcome – Europe as a whole desperately needs to focus on innovation and growth. In cosmetics and personal care, a super-competitive innovation based European business, we hope the Better Regulation approach will help us continue to grow and prosper in the EU and globally.

 

Join us at Cosmetics Europe Week Regulatory Day on 15 June to explore the current and future regulatory landscape in the EU, including key issues such as ecommerce, CMR substances, the new SCCS, sustainability, and much more, and to reflect on how Better Regulation can help us to drive the competitiveness of our industry forward.

 

To register and for more information: www.cosmeticseurope-conference.org/coseuweek16
#coseuweek16 on Twitter

 

 

 

John Chave, Director General, Cosmetics Europe