EU criticises Sweden’s ‘excessive’ cosmetics regulation
The Commission has sent a ‘Reasoned Opinion’ asking Sweden to comply with European law – the final stage before the case is referred to the European Court of Justice.
According to the Commission, Sweden’s regulation goes further than the Cosmetics Directive which hinders the functioning of the internal market.
The country asks for the notification of products that are already notified in other member states as well as demanding more information for market surveillance purposes than that asked for by the Directive.
Europe’s Cosmetics Directive establishes rules for the cosmetics sector to both ensure the safety of products and the functioning of an internal market, and member states are not allowed to adopt national rules that exceed these requirements.
“As Sweden has exceeded its obligations under the Cosmetics Directive in a way that hinders the functioning of the internal market, the Commission decided to send a reasoned opinion to ask Sweden to comply to EU law,” the Commission said in a statement.
The Swedish national authority for the regulation of cosmetics products (Medical Products Agency) was unable to comment on this issue at the time of publication.
