An initial interinstitutional meeting (‘trilogue’) between the EU Council and the Parliament, on the regulation on the prevention of plastic pellet losses to the environment, was held on Thursday 30 January.
The regulation on microplastics aims to improve the handling of plastic pellets at all stages of the supply chain in order to reduce losses to the environment. In 2019, between 52,140 and 184,290 tonnes of pellets were released into the environment in the EU (see EUROPE 13547/7).
In particular, pellets will have to be traceable (according to Parliament), losses will have to be tracked and certain obligations will have to be extended to non-European hauliers.
The EU Council is in favour of the regulation coming into force 24 months after its entry into force, i.e. six months longer than the 18 months envisaged by Parliament.
There are exemptions for medium-sized businesses (36 months) and small businesses (60 months in the Parliament’s mandate, 48 months in the EU Council’s mandate). The Council of the EU has also decided that the text should come into force later, after 36 months, for the maritime sector. “Coming from a country where maritime accidents have led to pellet pollution, this is a crucial issue for me”, explained Cesar Luena (S&D, Spanish). In his opinion, there is “no real reason for this delay”. The Spanish MEP intends to “push for the [regulation for the] maritime sector to come into force at the same time as [for] the others”.
The additional time requested by the EU Council served to reassure a number of countries opposed to the inclusion of the maritime sector (Latvia, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece and Malta). It should be noted that the Commission did not include the maritime sector.
The European Parliament defends a broader scope of the text, specifying that “the aim is not to prevent losses of plastic pellets, but to eliminate them altogether” (recital 10). The European Parliament also regrets the absence of “measures to combat existing pollution” (recital 9a).
According to the Parliament, the revenue generated by sanctions against polluters must “be used to support projects aimed at cleaning up areas polluted by plastic”. Every year, the Commission should report to the European Parliament and the EU Council on how the revenue generated by the sanctions has been used.
The next trilogue is due to take place on 10 April. (Original version in French by Florent Servia)