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		Letter to the Editor Northampton Chronicle & Echo - Friday 12th August 2005 Dear Sir, Yvonne Orchard at the Pattishall WI (Your Say, August 10th) writes about the EU's Chemicals Directive (REACH). She falls into the same trap as many commentators on EU legislative proposals. Because she agrees with the objectives of the directive, she pays no attention to the methodology. REACH is a vast and cumbersome piece of legislation which will impose huge costs on industry, cause company closures and destroy jobs. If it were the only way to deliver its objectives, that might be an acceptable price. But the benefits of a cleaner environment could be delivered much more quickly, with less damage to industry. The British Royal Commission on the Environment showed how, but the EU isn't listening. That is why I for one will not be voting for REACH in its present form. As it stands, REACH will require also a huge increase in animal testing. As I write, I have on my desk a letter from the Kennel Club begging MEPs not to approve REACH, because of the effect on laboratory animals. I'm afraid that the WI has been "got at" by some zealous and single-minded lobby groups, and has not applied its critical faculties. It is true that there are some dangerous chemicals in the environment, but pro-REACH lobbyists are getting too excited about many substances present in trivial amounts. The real problem chemicals could be dealt with much more quickly, and without the damage to jobs that REACH will cause. We all want a clean environment, but we also want our grandchildren to have jobs. Roger Helmer MEP (Conservative, E Midlands)