Brussels: The European Council today granted final approval to delay until 1 January 2028 the implementation dates of key provisions in the regulation concerning the classification, labelling, and packaging of chemicals (CLP regulation), originally revised in 2024.
According to Emirates News Agency, this 'Stop-the-clock' legislation marks the initial phase of the 'Omnibus VI' package, which the Commission introduced in July 2025. Recognizing the substantial and urgent impacts on businesses, the Danish Presidency prioritized the legislative proposal for the 'Stop-the-clock' measure. The co-legislators adopted this amending regulation without altering the European Commission's proposal.
Marie Bjerre, Denmark's Minister for European Affairs, commented, "The EU's chemical sector is a cornerstone of Europe's economy, driving innovation, growth and thousands of high-value jobs across the internal market. With today's stop-the-clock adoption, we ensure time and legal certainty for businesses while we make the necessary simplifications that will strengthen the sector's competitiveness and maintain high standards of safety."
The newly enacted law offers extended time and legal certainty to businesses, while also allowing co-legislators more time to reach consensus on other substantial changes to the CLP regulation in the second part of the 'Omnibus VI' package, which remains under negotiation. The Council agreed on a mandate for this negotiation on 5 November 2025.
The 'stop-the-clock' legislation delays all application dates for transitional provisions related to relabelling, mandatory formatting requirements, advertisements, online and distance sales, and labelling of fuel pumps to 1 January 2028. The revised CLP regulation of 2024 initially set these application dates for 1 July 2026 for some provisions and 1 January 2027 for others, imposing a significant burden on the industry, particularly SMEs.