With its “Ocean Pact“, the EU aims to consolidate its fragmented marine policy under one overarching framework. At first, he thought the pact was merely a collection of existing strategies, said Costas Kadis, Commissioner for Oceans and Fisheries, during its presentation on Thursday. But “each strategy contains very concrete actions,” Kadis noted. “What matters is […]
The EU is doing a lot to develop a circular battery industry in Europe. It has provided €9 billion in funding via the European Investment Bank since 2018, for example. With the new Battery Regulation, it is setting targets for the proportion of recycled material in batteries, among other things. The aim is to cover […]
Mr. Cramer, the EU Commission recently announced the first strategic raw materials projects. Will the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) give a boost to mining in Europe? The CRMA will not lead to a significant increase in mining in Europe in quantitative terms. These strategic raw materials projects are about giving a few individual projects […]
The European Court of Auditors has criticized EU member states for not doing enough to combat marine pollution caused by ships. They do not make sufficient use of the available instruments and have therefore often failed to meet the targets for ship inspections, according to a special report presented on Tuesday. Furthermore, neither the EU […]
The EU Commission wants to classify the extraction and processing of critical raw materials as “sustainable” in future. The Sustainable Finance Platform, which develops recommendations for the design of the taxonomy on behalf of the EU Commission, submitted a proposal for public consultation in January. It aims to complete the report by the end of […]
The EU Parliament and the member states reached a provisional agreement on the details of the Waste Framework Directive on Wednesday night. Textile and food waste is to be reduced by 2030 and manufacturers are to bear more responsibility. The EU Commission proposed the corresponding revision of the Waste Framework Directive in summer 2023. The […]
Three German trade associations are calling on the EU to utilize previous experience with already established take-back systems for the “Extended Producer Responsibility” (EPR) for textiles and shoes. This includes the private sector organization of the future system, explained the German Retail Association (HDE), the German Textile, Footwear and Leather Goods Retail Association (BTE) and […]
The EU Platform for Sustainable Finance has published draft proposals to revise and expand part of the sustainable finance taxonomy. Mining and refining are also listed as economic activities that should be considered sustainable under certain conditions.The proposals were drafted by a technical working group of the platform on behalf of the EU Commission. They […]
The last necessary formality in the legislative process for the EU Packaging Regulation was completed this week with the Council’s vote. The law will come into force at the beginning of 2025 and the requirements for more sustainable packaging must be implemented from July 2026. Among other things, packaging should then be recyclable by 2030 […]
Reactions from authorities, companies, and civil society to the postponement of the EU regulation for deforestation-free supply chains (EUDR), which was decided this week in Brussels, have been largely positive. “The postponement by one year allows us to prepare even better,” said Annerose Lichtenstein at a Table.Briefings event. She is head of “deforestation-free products” at […]