As the ultimate ‘big boss’ of exams looms, the Commissioners-designate are gearing up for their hearings with the European Parliament. With their future on the line, they’ve already faced the first test: responding to questions from Parliamentary Committees.
In other news, the WFD and SML Trilogues have started. More on that below!
Commissioners-designate hearings: The answers of the Commissioners-designate to the written questions have been published. The hearings will be held from November 4 to 12.
COP29 requests from the European Parliament: On 21 October, members of the ENVI Committee adopted its demands for the COP29, which will take place from 11 to 22 November in Baku, Azerbaijan. The resolution will be put to a vote during the 13 or 14 November plenary session.
European Commission investment in net-zero projects: On 23 October, the Commission unveiled its selection of 85 net-zero projects that will benefit from 4.8 billion euros investment from the Innovation Fund. The Commission will launch the next call for proposals under the Innovation Fund in early December 2024.
LIFE Projects – Investments: On 21 October, the European Commission announced a 380 million euros investment in LIFE projects to support the green transition. 143 million (of which the EU will provide €74 million) will be mobilised to contribute to circular economy and improving quality of life, with 26 projects reducing water use, industrial and household waste, air and noise pollution, as well as making the business case for reducing, reusing and recycling.
Delegation of powers in waste legislation. On 15 October, the Commission presented its Report on the exercise of the power to adopt delegated acts as regards waste related legislation. This report describes the Commission’s activity in the 5-year periods starting from 4 July 2018, 17 July 2019, and 30 December 2018, depending on the legislation, and covers the Sewage Sludge Directive, the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive, the End-of-Life Vehicles Directive, the Waste Shipment Regulation, the Batteries and Batteries Waste Directive, and the Waste Framework Directive (WFD).
Plastic pollution – Inger Andersen statements: On 16 October, 134 NGOs (including Greenpeace, Zero Waste Europe) wrote a letter to the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, raising their concerns about the Head of the UN’s Environment Program (UNEP), Inger Andersen’s recent statements on the global production of plastics.
EU’s plastics recycling industry: On 24 October, Plastics Recyclers Europe published a press release on the state of the EU’s plastics recycling industry. In the press release, the association state that the sector is on a downward spiral which is ‘alarming’.
Soil Monitoring Law and Waste Framework Directive: On 21 October, MEPs confirmed the European Parliament’s position on these two files in a vote in the ENVI Committee. The next day, trilogues between the EU Council and the Commission began.
Water reuse: On 21 October, in an answer to an MEP’s question, Maroš Šefčovič, the current Commission Executive-Vice-President for the European Green Deal stated that the European Commission is ‘keen to foster the wastewater reuse and will consider how to best support water reuse in the next long-term EU budget post-2027, although financing possibilities already exist under the current Multiannual Financial Framework or NextGenerationEU’.
Risk management of dangerous chemical substances by the European Commission – Ombudsman recommendation: On 21 October, the European Ombudsman published its preliminary decision on the risk management of dangerous chemical substances by the European Commission. The Ombudsman has found the European Commission’s persistent failure to meet the legal deadlines for preparing authorisation decisions concerning dangerous chemical substances to be maladministration.
State aid in times of crisis – European Court of Auditors report: The European Court of Auditors published, on 23 October, a report on state aid in times of crisis which concludes that the ‘assessment of the national aid measures was limited and the Commission faced difficulties both in monitoring the measures set up by member states under the temporary crisis frameworks and in assessing their impact on competition in the internal market’.
Hydrogen infrastructure – Hydrogen Europe report: In a report published on 23 October, Hydrogen Europe called on the European Commission to develop an EU wide storage strategy, develop a Union strategy for imported and domestic hydrogen as mandated in REDIII, and revise the EU Taxonomy.
Deepening the single market in the light of the Letta and Draghi reports – European Parliament briefing: On 18 October, the European Parliament published a briefing titled ‘Deepening the single market in the light of the Letta and Draghi reports’. The briefing goes through the history of the single market and the proposals presented in the Letta and Draghi reports.
The State of Soils in the EU – report: In a report published on 22 October by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre and the European Environment Agency, the extent of soil degradation in the EU is analysed and the consequences of this degradation on agriculture, water quality and human health are detailed.
FEAD news: Last week, FEAD’s President, Claudia Mensi was at Senalimp during the Waste Expo in Sao Paulo where she gave a presentation.
And this week, FEAD is in Prague for our joint conference with CAObH. For those joining us, see you very soon!
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