The EU Council’s Environment Working Party has finalised its work on the lengthy draft conclusions on how to make the EU’s circular and green post-Covid-19 economic recovery based on the ‘European Green Deal’.
A final compromise proposed by the German Presidency of the Council on 27 November, as seen by EUROPE, was tacitly agreed on Tuesday 1 December.
As the ‘silence procedure’ has not been broken, the text is deemed approved and will be submitted to the Permanent Representatives to the EU (Coreper) on 9 December, with a view to preparing the Environment Council on 17 December.
Compared to the previous version (see EUROPE 12611/8), the text has only been changed marginally.
With regard to the action plan for circular economy, for which the Council is expected to ask to present all the legislative proposals set out as soon as possible, with full impact studies, it was added that the specific characteristics of island States would have to be taken into account, for example.
With regard to product safety, the Council will likely stress the importance of avoiding the presence of substances of concern, in particular for non-essential uses, and of ensuring easy access to information on the content of chemical substances throughout the life cycle of products, including for operators in the waste sector and, on request, for consumers. This clarification regarding consumers has been added. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)