Brussels, 14/11/2014 (Agence Europe) - Although First Vice-President of the European Commission for Better Regulation Frans Timmermans suggested on Wednesday 12 November that the legislative proposal on plastic bags could be scrapped, he reportedly intend to begin his work with a raft of proposals on the environment.
This work will involve simplifying and refocusing on essential Commission priorities and, according to Reuters, will involve several legislative projects on standards for low energy consumption, such as fridges, for example and, more generally, a number of drafts on labels and ecological designs. Reuters added that these texts were likely to get the hackles up in certain countries, particularly the United Kingdom.
On Friday 14 November, the Commission denied that the decisions had already been taken in this connection. The spokespersons for Juncker and Timmermans explained that a decision would be taken once the 2015 work programme had been adopted, which is planned for the middle of December. According to these services, this legislative recasting work is nothing new and is contained in the mission statement of Timmermans and Karmenu Vella, European Commissioner for the Environment. The latter's mission already involves revising legislation on air quality, as well as proposals on the circular economy and a zero waste programme for Europe. The eco-design directive also contains a revision clause that falls in 2015. (SP)