The European Union took on Friday a step closer to tough new chemicals rules after EU lawmakers and governments hammered out the details of one of Europe's most ambitious and disputed legislative packages in years.

After marathon negotiations, members of the European Parliament and the EU's Finnish presidency agreed shortly before mid night on Thursday on rules to regulate the use of chemicals to better protect people and the environment.

With the backing of the assembly's main political groupings, the compromise paves the way for its adoption by the European Parliament on December 13 in a Strasbourg plenary session.

Since the European Commission first laid out proposals in October 2003, the package has been the subject of fierce lobbying by both industry eager to avoid red tape and greens wanting tough regulations.

"I think we are doing a successful job of work here for future generations," said the rapporteur, Socialist euro-deputy Guido Sacconi, as he announced the deal on Friday in a news conference.

"We're trying to ensure that the chemical substances in the medium and long term will be controlled and will be replaced when they're dangerous," he added.

The reform aims to ensure that 30,000 chemicals in daily use present no long-term risks to human health or the environment.

The plan sets up a system for the registration, evaluation and authorisation of chemicals (REACH) under which companies have to register all chemicals used and provide information about them and potential hazards.

Under the rules, it will not longer be up to public authorities to show the toxicity of chemicals, Instead it will be the responsibility of producers to demonstrate that they are safe.

Tests provided by producers will be controlled and monitored by a new agency to be set up in Helsinki, which will be able to authorise and register substances.

The rules are to be phased in gradually by 2018, with priority for chemicals considered to be highly dangerous substances produced in the biggest volumes and chemicals.

The compromise agreement calls for producers to provide plans for substituting the most dangerous chemicals or developing alternatives when none exist, although they will not be banned outright as environmentalists had hoped.

The European Commission welcomed the agreement, which it said struck the right balance between the interests of consumers, the environment and industry.

"It is a marked improvement on the present situation regarding health and environment and at the same time it safeguards the competitiveness of the European industry paying particular attention to small and mid-sized entreprises and encourages innovation," a spokeswoman said.

However, Greens members of the parliament were furious about the compromise, accusing their colleagues that brokered the deal of having "sold out".

"The European Parliament has finally sold out to the intense lobbying of the German chemical industry and agreed a compromise ..., which will seriously limit the potential benefits of REACH in terms of protecting EU citizens and the environment from toxic chemicals," said Green MEP Carl Schlyter.

The potential economic impact of the new rules is huge. Europe produces 28 percent of the world's chemicals, with an industry turnover of 360 billion euros (476.5 billion dollars), according to European business leaders' grouping UNICE.