July 2024

Europe has voted: “new EU under construction”

Following the European Parliament elections between 6 and 9 June this year, the newly elected and re-elected MEPs met for their first sessions to make decisions on the composition of the Parliament, the EU Commission, and other EU institutions - before the summer recess begins.

On a personal note - Thank you very much for the Meeting, Ms. Walsmann!

From 16 to 19 July, the first Plenary Session of the new legislative period took place in Strasbourg - and GRS Service GmbH was there! We had many interesting discussions around the topics of producer responsibility and the circular economy.

Special thanks to Marion Walsmann (MEP) for the meeting and the exchange. Ms Walsmann represents Germany as a member of the European People's Party (EPP) group in the European Parliament. She is a member of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) and the Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI).

During this first plenary session, Roberta Metsola was re-elected as President of the European Parliament and Ursula von der Leyen as President of the European Commission. The composition and membership of the parliamentary committees were also confirmed. The leadership of the committees was elected the following week in Brussels.

Strategic Agenda of the European Council 2024-2029

The European Council has published its strategic agenda for the next legislative period. This document calls, among other things, for a prosperous and competitive Europe:

The EU is determined to strengthen its long-term competitiveness and improve the economic and social well-being of its citizens. In order to strengthen Europe's sovereignty in strategic sectors and to make it a technological and industrial powerhouse, the following objectives were identified:

• A deeper internal market, particularly for energy, finance and telecommunications
• An ambitious, robust, open, and sustainable trade policy
• Reduced harmful dependencies, diversified, secure strategic supply chains
• Improved capacities in key future technologies such as net-zero technologies
• A real Energy Union and investments in digital technologies in Europe
• Promoting an environment conducive to innovation and business
• Investing in skills, training, and education

Political guidelines for the next European Commission 2024-2029

As part of her (successful!) bid for the presidency, Ursula von der Leyen published her “Political Guidelines for the next European Commission 2024-2029”. This document contains a new plan for sustainable prosperity and competitiveness in Europe.

The world is in a race to determine who will be the first to achieve climate neutrality and develop the technologies that will shape the global economy for decades to come. Given the scale of the challenges and opportunities, we now need to go much faster and further – this is what we need for competitiveness, prosperity and justice:

• Facilitate economic activities
• A Clean Industrial Deal
• A more circular and resilient economy (Circular Economy Act)
• Increasing productivity through the spread of digital technologies
• Putting research and innovation at the heart of our economy
• Accelerate investments
• Closing skills and workforce gaps

We are very pleased to see many common themes in this policy document, particularly the Clean Industrial Deal and the more circular and resilient economy (Circular Economy Act) are direct starting points for our work.

The Clean Industry Deal includes the following points:

• For competitive industries and high-quality jobs
• Making business in Europe easier and faster
• To be completed within the first 100 days of the term
• Supporting and creating the right conditions for companies
• Reducing administrative burden and simplifying implementation
• Less bureaucracy/ reporting, more trust, better enforcement, and faster approvals
• Access to cheap, sustainable, and secure energy and raw materials

The Circular Economy Act includes the following points:

• Working to decarbonise the EU economy
• Further transition to more sustainable production and consumption patterns
• Maintaining the value of resources in our economy for longer
• Contribution to creating market demand for secondary materials
• An internal market for waste, in particular with regard to critical raw materials
• Simplify REACH and create clarity on “forever chemicals” (PFAS)

We wish the European Union every success in the great task ahead – and are ready to make a contribution with our many years of experience and expertise in the role of producer responsibility for the circular economy!

The Environment Committee (ENVI) in the European Parliament

During its inaugural meeting on Tuesday, the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety elected Antonio Decaro (S&D, IT) as its Chair, together with its four Vice-Chairs. Members elected the following leadership, which forms the Committee's Bureau, for a mandate of two and a half years:

• Chair: Antonio DECARO (S&D, Italy) – by acclamation
• First Vice-Chair: Esther HERRANZ GARCÍA (EPP, Spain) – by acclamation
• Second Vice-Chair: Pietro FIOCCHI (ECR, Italy) – elected by secret ballot with 52 votes in favour, 25 against and 12 abstentions
• Third Vice-Chair: Anja HAZEKAMP (The Left, Netherlands) – by acclamation
• Fourth Vice-Chairman: András Tivadar KULJA (EPP, Hungary) – elected by secret ballot with 64 votes in favour – while Jorge BUXADÉ VILLALBA ( PfE , ES) received 24 votes in favour

The committee's first regular meeting after the summer break is scheduled for 4 September. In the 10th legislative term, the ENVI Committee will have 90 members and will be responsible for environmental policy, public health, and food safety issues. The members were appointed during the plenary session from 16 to 19 July.

EU daily business: Strategic partnership for electric vehicles between the EU and Serbia

The European Union and the Republic of Serbia have signed an agreement establishing a strategic partnership on sustainable raw materials, battery value chains, and electric vehicles.

The partnership aims to support the development of new local industries and high-quality jobs across the electric vehicle (battery) value chain.

There are 5 areas of cooperation:

1. Accelerate the development of raw materials, batteries, and electric vehicle value chains by facilitating close cooperation between industrial players and stakeholders from the EU and Serbia. The agreement will support the development of a pipeline of mutually beneficial projects with a particular focus on the electric vehicle industrial ecosystem.
2. Cooperation in research and innovation (R&I) by mapping existing areas of cooperation within the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation "Horizon Europe" and other programmes. Based on the agreement, both parties will exchange knowledge and technologies related to sustainable exploration, extraction, and processing of critical raw materials and the recycling of secondary raw materials.
3. The application of high environmental, social, and governance standards and practices will be facilitated through mutual consultation and exchange of information on relevant policies and initiatives throughout the value chains, including the application of enhanced due diligence and improved traceability in the battery value chain.
4. Mobilising financial and investment instruments to support investment projects under the Partnership, in particular through InvestEU , the Western Balkans Investment Framework, and a single project pipeline in Serbia, as well as under the European Raw Materials Alliance and the European Battery Alliance.
5. Developing the skills needed for high-quality jobs in raw materials and batteries. This includes the participation of Serbian organisations in European Battery Academies and future Raw Materials Academies, including a possible Serbian contribution with dedicated programmes and internships.

Next steps: Following the signature of the agreement, the EU and the Republic of Serbia will, within six months, jointly develop a roadmap with concrete actions to implement this strategic partnership.

Beyond the EU: OECD report on monitoring progress in the circular economy

The OECD has published a report entitled “Monitoring Progress towards a Resource-Efficient and Circular Economy”. Waste management and related policies are moving towards preventive and integrated approaches, focusing on the life cycle of materials and products.

This is reflected in the circular economy initiatives that have emerged at international, national, and sub-national levels around the world. The increase in circular economy policy initiatives has led to a greater demand for reliable and more detailed information to track progress towards a more resource-efficient circular economy with improved social and environmental outcomes.

This has also raised questions about the adequacy of currently available data and indicators. This report presents a conceptual framework and a set of indicators to monitor progress towards a resource-efficient circular economy.

The aim is to provide a harmonised guide for countries seeking to build a coherent framework for monitoring the circular economy and to support international work on the transition to a circular economy. The conceptual monitoring provided in this report aims to organise thinking about indicators, identify relevant metrics, and ensure that nothing important is missed.

The framework consists of four interconnected main components:

1. Material life cycle and value chain
2. Interactions with the environment
3. Reactions and measures
4. Socioeconomic opportunities

And finally: holiday time!

When the European Parliament (and with it pretty much the entire “EU bubble”) goes on holiday in August, this newsletter will also be “on holiday” - in September we will continue with updates on producer responsibility, circular economy, and sustainability from Brussels and beyond - so we wish you all a very nice holiday!