Last week was a whirlwind of nominations! The ITRE and ENVI chairs have been confirmed, Member States are rolling out their candidates for the College of Commissioners, and across the pond, Kamala Harris has stepped in for Joe Biden in the race for the Presidential race.
ENVI Committee – Presidency and coordinators: On 23 July, MEP Antonio Decaro (S&D) was confirmed as the Chair of the ENVI Committee. The co-chairs are MEPs Pietro Fiocchi (Italy, ECR), Anja Hazekamp (The Netherlands, The Left), Esther Herranz Garcia (Spain, EPP) and Andras Tivadar Kulja (Hungary, EPP). The next ENVI Commitee meetings will take place in Brussels on 4 and 12 September.
ITRE Committee – Presidency and coordinators: On 23 July, the ITRE Committee elected its bureau for a two-and-a-half year term. MEP Borys Budka (EPP, PL) was confirmed as Chair and the following were confirmed as Vice-Chairs: Tsvetelina Penkova (Bulgaria,S&D), Elena Donazzan (Italy, ECR), Giorgio Gori (Italy, S&D) and Yvan Verougstraete (Belgium, Renew).
Waste Framework Directive – Infringement package (WFD): In July, the European Commission sent letters of formal notice to all 27 Member States as they have failed to meet the EU waste collection and recycling targets.
Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR): On 18 July, the ESPR entered into force.
Waste-to-energy (WtE): MEP Adreas Schwaab (EPP, Germany) submitted on 17 July a priority question for written answer by the Commission on guidance on waste heat.
Certificates on subsequent (non-)interim recovery & disposal operations: On 19 July, the Commission adopted and published the Delegated Regulation supplementing the Waste Shipment Regulation by establishing the information to be provided in the certificate confirming the completion of a subsequent interim or non-interim recovery operation or a subsequent interim or non-interim disposal operation. Council and Parliament now have 2 months to object.
Legislation on fertilisers labelling: The Council adopted a regulation for digital labelling of fertilising products on 22 July.
International Energy Agency mid-year report on electricity: On 19 July, the International Energy Agency published a report stating that global electricity demand is expected to grow by 4% in 2024 and that electricity demand in 2024 and 2025 should be among the highest in the last two decades.
Low-carbon Hydrogen in the EU – study: On 24 July, the German think tank Agora Energiewende published a study calling for a gradual lowering of the low-carbon hydrogen emissions threshold to 3 kg by 2030, 2 kg by 2040 and 1 kg by 2050.
Land for Renewables – report: In a report published on 24 July, the European Environment Bureau highlights that the EU has enough renewable-friendly land to achieve climate neutrality by 2040 ‘in harmony with the needs of nature, food production, and local communities’.
Plastic pollution – USA strategy: On 19 July, the United States of America announced, in a 80 page document, that it has set a target to eliminate single-use plastics from federal procurement by 2035.
European Commission – new cabinet: Politico has published a map of confirmed nominations per country for the roles of commissioners. The nominations for Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia are thus confirmed.
Reactions to von der Leyen’s re-election: The re-election of von der Leyen has generated a lot of reactions from environmental NGOs. Several NGOs, such as EEB, WWF, Greenpeace and BirdLife, are sceptical about the President’s promise to reconcile the Green Deal and competitiveness.
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