On Tuesday 16 December, European environment ministers are meeting in Brussels under the chairmanship of Danish ministers Magnus Heunicke (Environment), Lars Aagaard (Climate) and Jeppe Bruus (Green Transition) to discuss the EU’s bioeconomy strategy.
The Council is also expected to adopt conclusions on “Europe’s Environment 2030 – Building a more circular and resilient Europe”.
With regard to the bioeconomy, the Danish Presidency of the Council has circulated a note inviting ministers to discuss the key challenges and opportunities linked to securing a long-term resilient bioeconomy that is competitive and benefits local communities.
Looking ahead to 2030, the conclusions will be based on the mid-term review of the 8th Environment Action Programme (2024) and the latest report by the European Environment Agency. Ministers are expected to stress the urgency of strengthening climate resilience and accelerating the transition to a circular economy, setting the Council’s priorities for upcoming initiatives.
Miscellaneous items. Among these issues, a group of countries (France, Finland, Italy, Poland, Portugal and Slovenia, with the support of Belgium) will be calling for action at European level on the environmental and economic effects of ‘ultra-fast fashion’.
See the note: https://aeur.eu/f/jzv
Poland will inform on the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and how it can affect technical and non-commercial electricity imports of electricity from Ukraine to EU Member States (https://aeur.eu/f/jzr ).
Austria will provide information on the dangers posed by lithium batteries and the feasibility and potential benefits of introducing an EU-wide battery deposit system (https://aeur.eu/f/jzt ).
Belgium will inform on strengthening market surveillance (https://aeur.eu/f/jzp ).
The Netherlands and France will inform ministers on the timely revision of the directive on pyrotechnic articles.
The Danish Presidency of the Council and the Commission will report on six recent international meetings, including the 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) (Belém, Brazil, 10-21 November).
The Commission will report on the progress of the EU’s missions on smart and climate-neutral cities, and will present its proposals to increase price predictability and frontload ETS2 (Emissions Trading System) revenues (https://aeur.eu/f/jzj ).
The Commissioner for Environment, Jessika Roswall, will present the recent legislative simplification package (see EUROPE 13770/2). (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)