Hans Ingels, Head of the Bioeconomy, Chemicals and Cosmetics Unit at the European Commission, announced at the end of October 2024 that instead of the revision that had been so much talked about in previous years, the European Commission was in fact going to organise a fitness check. The process began on 21 February 2025.
This first evaluation of the Cosmetic Products Regulation (CPR) is being carried out 10 years after the Regulation became fully applicable.
The Commission says that it is expected to provide evidence of:
• how it has been applied,
• whether it has delivered on its objectives (protect consumer health by ensuring that all cosmetics meet strict safety requirements before being placed on the market, and ensure the functioning of the internal market),
• whether it remains fit for purpose, including for the green and digital transitions and the external and internal competitiveness of EU businesses, in the light of current developments (e.g. online and bulk3 sales, digital labelling, products used in professional settings, the increasingly challenging and fragmented geopolitical and economic environment, etc.).
The scope of the evaluation
The period covered by the evaluation will be from 2013 (when the CPR started to apply in its entirety) until 2024. In that period, 50 amendments of the Annexes were made, plus 11 corrections and one amendment modifying Article 2 (Definitions), giving the Commission the power to take the necessary measures to determine whether a product falls within the definition of a “cosmetic product”.
The evaluation will investigate, among …
