Welcome back, everyone! We hope you had a fantastic August break, recharged and are ready to dive into the exciting months ahead. As we store away our beach towels, Ursula von der Leyen is busy grading the Member States’ Commissioner nominations. Who will make the cut? It’s like EU Hogwarts over there, but instead of sorting hats, we’ve got policy portfolios! Stay tuned for all the drama as Brussels heads back to school!
PFAS: During a tour at one of the largest chemical production sites in Germany, on 26 August, the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz let the media Reuters know that his government will defend a ‘pragmatic approach that does not hinder but rather promotes Germany’s industrial development’ at the European level, on the project of the restriction of PFAS.
COP29: On 4 September, members of the European Parliament’s Environment Committee will discuss a draft motion for a resolution to express the institution’s expectations for the upcoming COP29 (11 to 22 November in Baku, Azerbaijan).
Bridge to Busan declaration on Primary Plastic Polymers: The EU signed the Bridge to Busan declaration, committing to ending plastic pollution worldwide. The signatories support a ‘comprehensive approach’ that allows efforts to balance the entire life cycle of plastics from design to waste treatment.
US position on UN plastics Agreement: The US administration also signed the aforementioned Busan declaration, prompting criticism by the American Chemical Council. In a statement published on 14 August, its president, Chris Jahn, deplored a ‘betrayal’ of the American industry.
Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) – ECHA’s role: The revised IED includes new tasks for ECHA, who will join the Sevilla process. On 5 August, ECHA reported that, using the information from its database, the agency ‘provides lists of hazardous substances that are potentially used in the relevant industry sectors, extracts substance-related information, characterises uses of those substances by sector and provides expert support on chemicals management’.
Greenhouse gas emissions – CAN Europe and GLAN case against the Commission: CAN Europe and the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) have seized the EU Court of Justice to contest the European Commission’s Implementing Decision on the annual emission allocations for each Member State under the Effort Sharing Regulation.
Germany’s Climate and Transformation Fund (CTF): According to Table media, the 2025 budget for Germany’s CTF (a German programme to finance climate protection measure) will be reduced from 58 billion euros to 34.5 billion euros.
ECHA consultations on Chromium trioxide: ECHA, the European Chemicals Agency, has launched five consultations on the uses of Chromium trioxide. They are open until 9 October.
Final Report on ‘background data collection for future EU end-of-waste criteria of Construction and Demolition Waste’: The final report by two consulting firms, Tauw and Milieu, which aimed to prioritise ten waste streams from the construction and demolition sector for the introduction of the end-of-waste criteria of Construction and Demolition Waste, was published.
JRC report on Circular Technologies in Construction: The JRC has published a report on ‘Circular Technologies in Construction’ which emphasises the importance of standardisation in promoting circular construction and the circular economy.
European Commission call for tenders – Artificial Intelligence Act: On 6 August, the European Commission published a call for tenders on the Artificial Intelligence Act to estimate energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from AI systems.
European Commission College: The nominations are coming in concerning the next mandate of Commissioners as the deadline was on 30 August. Politico has kept an updated list of all the nominees. At time of writing, only Belgium has not nominated a candidate. All Member States, except Bulgaria, have ignored von der Leyen’s request for two nominations, one man and one woman, instead presenting her with a single nominee, prompting criticism of the gender balance of the upcoming College of Commissioners.
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