22 January, Brussels – Karl Falkenberg, the Environment Director General has told MEPs that the European Commission will propose new legislation on the Circular Economy later this year, after having dumped the proposals of the previous Commission in December.
22 January, Brussels – Karl Falkenberg, the Environment Director General has told MEPs that the European Commission will propose new legislation on the Circular Economy later this year, after having dumped the proposals of the previous Commission in December.
The new Circular Economy package will put greater emphasis on product design to boost recycling and address the issue of toxic substances in materials which prohibit recycling, aiming to produce higher quality secondary raw materials.
Responding to concerns that the Circular Economy package would impose recycling targets that some Member States would not be able to reach, Mr. Falkenberg said that the package would take account of subsidiarity – the principle that the EU may only intervene if it is able to act more effectively than Member States, meaning that proposed legislation must take account of difference in development levels.
MEPs have been sceptical of the withdrawal of the package and think that the new Commission will find it very difficult to propose more ambitious legislation, given that the previous proposal took four years to draft.