Cuardaigh

In December 2022, the European Commission proposed a revision of the Regulation on the classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures, one of the two cornerstones of the EU's framework regulating chemicals. The revision, announced in the EU chemicals strategy for sustainability, notably seeks to identify and classify hazardous chemicals more comprehensively; improve communication on chemical hazards and the notification of relevant information to poison centres for emergency health ...

The IA provides a convincing justification on the need to revise the CLP. It presents a well-evidenced problem definition and describes the scale of the problems. The IA does not provide self-standing policy options addressing all the drivers. Instead, it provides three policy option packages, under which the sub-options are the policy options; however, there are in fact only a few alternative choices. The IA explains the policy options and their impacts in detail in extensive annexes. The comparison ...

The IA provides a good overview of the problems relating to packaging and packaging waste, and the possible impacts of the various measures proposed to address the problems. In its assessment, which is both qualitative and quantitative, the IA relies on a wealth of data sources and modelling. However, it does not clearly indicate the IA supporting studies and their full references; this would have improved transparency. The IA presents three policy options, which are partially incremental and cannot ...

This document was prepared by Policy Department for Budgetary Affairs for the Committee on Budgets as a background paper for the Public Hearing on ‘Financing the EU budget: new own resources and possible other revenue’. It provides a summary of the system of EU own resources in the light of the agreement on its revision reached during the negotiations of the 2021-27 MFF. It shows the rationale for the reform including the need to find sources to finance the repayment of the EU borrowing in the framework ...

EU chemicals legislation aims to protect human health and the environment and to prevent barriers to trade. It consists of rules governing the marketing and use of particular categories of chemical products, a set of harmonised restrictions on the placing on the market and use of specific hazardous substances and preparations, and rules governing major accidents and exports of dangerous substances. The most important achievement at EU level is the REACH regulation, which regulates the registration ...

Past and current patterns of resource use have led to high pollution levels, environmental degradation and the depletion of natural resources. The Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe and the Circular Economy Package should change this trend, by transforming the EU’s economy into a sustainable one by 2050. EU waste policy has a long history and has traditionally focused on more environmentally sustainable waste management. The four legislative proposals on waste in the new Circular Economy Package ...

This STOA study explores waste management in the EU. Around one third of EU municipal waste was sent to landfill in 2012. To turn waste into a resource, waste management objectives must be aligned with the goals of a circular economy transition. This report highlights progress and challenges across Member States and in municipalities for (1) reducing waste, and (2) generating high-quality waste streams for re-use and recovery. It focuses on the current policy landscape, trends, and technologies for ...

Waste streams are flows of specific waste, from its source through to recovery, recycling or disposal. Together they make up the overall waste treated in the European Union (4.6 tonnes per capita in 2012). Waste streams can be divided into two broad types: streams made of materials (such as metals or plastics) or streams made of certain products (such as electronic waste or end-of-life vehicles) which require specific treatment and ultimately feed into materials-related streams. Reports suggest that ...

Innovations in food processing techniques can significantly contribute to meeting the needs of the future 10 billion world inhabitants with respect to quality, quantity and sustainability of their food intake. The present study provides an expert judgment for the potential of new and emerging technologies to enhance sustainability in the food processing sector. It includes the following technologies: sensor technology, sustainable packaging and refrigeration climate control, non-thermal pasteurisation ...

This note seeks to provide an initial appraisal of the European Commission's Impact Assessment accompanying its proposal for a Directive on the manufacture, presentation and sale of tobacco and related products, submitted on 19 December 2012. The Commission wishes to update existing Directive 2001/37/EC on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States concerning the manufacture, presentation and sale of tobacco products (Tobacco Products Directive ...