General Court Rules the Systematic Extension of Active Substance Approvals Unlawful: What Next?

In three rulings delivered simultaneously on 19 November 2025, the General Court upheld actions for annulment brought by three NGOs against the Commission’s rejection of their requests for internal review under the Aarhus Regulation. At the heart of these judgments is the interpretation of Article 17 of Regulation 1107/2009, which allows the Commission to extend the approval of an active substance pending its reassessment. The General Court brings some useful clarifications and limitations to a practice that has become systematic in the face of chronic delays in evaluation procedures. The practical implications of this ruling will however depend on how it is implemented by the Commission, and the level of control the Court will exercise thereupon. In the meantime, dozens of active substances whose approval should have expired many years ago remain on the market, at the expense of health and the environment. While the revised Aarhus procedure has helped to clarify the law, it may not be fully adequate for remedying systematic breaches of EU law.