What are the latest developments concerning environmental legislation globally? We’ve picked out some highlights for you for July 2021.
On 1 July, Slovenia took over the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union and, therefore, the lead on the Council’s activities on the new Battery Regulation.
The country’s delegation will be responsible for working out a common position, together with the other member states, for the upcoming trialogue negotiations with the European Parliament.
One of the most controversial topics remains the planned change of the legal act from a directive to a regulation. At a meeting with representatives of the European Commission in June, some member states expressed concerns that a regulation would deprive them of the necessary flexibility regarding existing EPR schemes and thus jeopardise their operation.
The Parliament’s lead Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety also met with representatives of the Commission in June. The discussion primarily focused on the industrial policy dimension of the new regulation.
The responsible rapporteur, Simona Bonafé, pointed out that in the coming years and decades there will be a significant increase in industrial batteries – for example, those used for electric cars – which will require significant quantities of raw materials. The new legal framework must improve the recycling of batteries to minimise the extraction of raw materials.
Meanwhile, the timetable for the legislative process in parliament has shifted slightly. The Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, which is a Committee for Opinion on the dossier, will now vote on 27 September, instead of 15 July. The delay is due to the huge number of amendments tabled by the committee’s members.
The final vote in the plenary of the Parliament is still planned to take place in February next year.
Landbell Group company, European Recycling Platform (ERP) is in regular contact with member state representatives in the Council, as well as with MEPs from the committees involved. ERP is contributing its experience operating 13 battery schemes across Europe.
As part of its ongoing impact assessment study on the revision of the European Packaging Directive, the consultancy Eunomia held six workshops in June to discuss the interim results and proposed recommendations with selected stakeholders.
Landbell Group was present at the workshops and took away the following main findings :
The European Commission’s legislative proposal is expected to be published at the end of 2021 or in the first quarter of 2022.
Landbell Group company, European Recycling Platform (ERP) has published a position paper with its comments on the interim results of EUNOMIA’S impact assessment study. You can read the position paper here.
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