Last week was a whirlwind at FEAD! Between our General Assembly, where Herwart Wilms was elected as FEAD’s next President, and our conference on ‘Circular Economy Priorities’, we’ve hardly had a moment to catch our breath. If you missed all the excitement, fear not, we’ve got you covered with press releases on both topics, so you won’t feel left out.
EU Taxonomy – Frequently asked questions (FAQs): The Commission published on 29 November draft EU Taxonomy Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). The FAQs will be translated in all EU official languages and published in the Official Journal (possibly in February 2025).
ECHA Recommendation – Annex XIV entry to REACH of dibutyl phthalate (DBP): Citing ‘likely serious effects’ on the environment, ECHA calls on the Commission to further tighten restrictions for DBP by amending Annex XIV of REACH, so that PBO is also identified as an endocrine disruptor with potential adverse effects on the environment.
Ban of flufenacet: Basing itself on a renewal report dated 28 November, the European Commission proposes to ban flufenacet as it states that it is not ‘satisfied as a number of concerns were identified’.
Protection of groundwater against pollution: On 4 December, the European Parliament’s Environment Committee voted in favour of opening Trilogues on the revision of the lists of pollutants to be monitored in groundwater.
Gas storage Regulation: According to the Gas storage Regulation adopted in 2022, EU facilities will have to be filled to 90% by 1 November 2025. An Implementing Regulation of 29 November and its annex set the intermediate targets for Member states for the months of February, May, July and September.
Energy Charter Treaty (ECT): On the 3 December, the Energy Charter Conference adopted its proposal for modernising the ECT. This decision allows the contracting parties to terminate the protection of fossil investments launched after 15 August 2023.
Environmental Claims Directive: Negotiations on the Environmental Claims Directive are expected by the end of January 2025. The ENVI and IMCO Committees voted on 4 December in favour of starting Trilogues soon.
17 December Council (Environment): On 29 November, the Hungarian Presidency of the Council published a note in order to guide the exchange of views during the upcoming 17 December Council.
ENVI Committee on COP30 – 5 December: During the 5 December ENVI Committee meeting, Anne Olhoff, Chief Climate Advisor at UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre stated that the EU’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDCs) should go further than the global average in order to lead by example.
European Commission – Commissioners mission letters: On 1 December, the new Commissioners republished their mission letters. While Teresa Ribera‘s is the same as the first version, Wopke Hoekstra, the Commissioner for Climate is slightly different as it now charges him to elaborate, with Dan Jørgensen, the Commissioner for Energy, a ‘roadmap’ to end subventions for fossil fuels instead of elaborating a ‘framework’.
Polish Presidency – Energy: On 4 December, the Polish Undersecretary of State, Paweł Karbownik, stated that during the Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU, the country intends to do everything possible to act on energy prices. ‘If we don’t solve the energy problem, we have no chance of competing with anyone’, he explained.
Polish Presidency – Business Europe message: Presidents and Directors General of BusinessEurope’s member federations gathered in Warsaw on 29 November. Following this gathering, they published the ‘Warsaw Declaration‘, in which they ask EU Institutions to implement 10 actions during the Polish Presidency.
FEAD news: FEAD’s 2026 President has been elected! Last week, FEAD held our last General Assembly of 2024, during which it was announced that Herwart Wilms (BDE) will be FEAD’s President from 2026, succeeding Claudia Mensi (Assoambiente). This was followed the next day by a conference on ‘Circular Economy Priorities’ where we held two panels to discuss the European Circular Single Market and the competitiveness of the EU waste manager sector. Read our press release on the event.
On 06 November, FEAD published a joint statement asking for ambitious plastic recycling targets for ELVs.
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