On July 1, 2007, the ordinance for reforming European chemicals policy went into effect. The legislative procedure was preceded by various steps, including: an Internet consultation event which ran for several weeks in 2003, during which over 6,000 contributions from companies, interest groups, trade unions and private individuals were received. Statements were also submitted for the Tire divisions of Continental and diverse ContiTech companies in order to simplify the regulations and thus ensure the future supply of chemical raw materials. The company participated in the debate on the new EU chemicals legislation through a variety of forums (ETRMA, and the working group on chemicals policy of the ministry of environment in Lower Saxony).

The aim of the new ordinance is to improve the protection of human health and the environment while maintaining competitiveness and enhancing innovative capability in the EU chemicals industry. The legislation focuses on the so-called REACH system for registering, evaluating and authorizing chemical raw materials. More strongly than the previous European chemicals laws, it is based the principle of personal responsibility, meaning that manufacturers are responsible for the security of their chemicals themselves. The system will be applied to all new and waste materials.