SUMMARY

On 24 June, the Council published a press release confirming its negotiating stance on parts of the Omnibus VIII environmental simplification package.

Importantly, and as discussed during yesterday's FESI sustainability monthly call, the Council confirmed that negotiations on the two proposals concerning the temporary suspension of rules on the appointment of authorised representatives for Extended Producer Responsibility schemes have been discontinued.

This follows strong reservations from a vast majority of Member States and reflects the view that broader EPR reform should be addressed under the forthcoming Circular Economy Act, expected in autumn 2026.

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The Omnibus VIII environmental package originally included targeted measures on environmental assessments, administrative burden reduction, the infrastructure for spatial information (INSPIRE), and the temporary suspension of authorised representative requirements for EPR.

However, the Council has decided not to continue work on the EPR-related proposals at this stage. The press release explicitly links this decision to both Member State concerns and the upcoming comprehensive review of EPR frameworks under the Circular Economy Act.

The Council did agree its position on other parts of the package, including simplification measures related to the Batteries Regulation, the Industrial Emissions Portal Regulation, waste legislation reporting obligations and the INSPIRE Directive.