While the European Union welcomed the agreement reached at the UN in March to negotiate an international legally-binding instrument on plastic pollution (see EUROPE B12902A26), the European Commission and the Council of the EU differ on the interpretation of the treaties regarding the Commission’s mandate to negotiate on behalf of the EU.
On Friday 14 October, the EU27 ambassadors to the EU (Coreper) gave the go-ahead to open negotiations on behalf of the EU.
The draft EU Council...