The EU’s planned legislation for a Europe-wide system to test and regulate chemicals (called "REACH") was discussed in committee yesterday, with MEPs in the Environment committee voting in favour of putting a strong version of the law before Parliament in November’s Strasbourg session.

REACH could potentially improve the health, safety and working conditions of virtually every citizen of the EU.

The need for REACH was highlighted in the media twice yesterday. The Daily Mail contained an extended article on two twins suffering from hypospadias, a genital abnormality. The number of children born with the condition has doubled over the last 25 years with experts putting the blame squarely on chemicals used in everyday products.

The Guardian’s Conservation website reveals how a toxin called tributyltin contained in paints is contaminating wildlife and subsequently entering the food chain. By 2008 it will be banned in the European Union.

At last Friday’s Labour Movement for Europe evening, Giampi Alhadeff, the Secretary General of the European Parliamentary Labour Party, spoke of how we should identify problems that the EU can contribute to solving. The EU will get off the back foot if its legislation is seen to be making an obviously positive impact on the lives of its citizens.

REACH is proving Giampi right. The Daily Mail will never be a general advocate of the EU but, however reluctantly, it admits that this legislation will improve the health of Europe, and is therefore a good thing.