SUMMARY

• On 22 June, the European Parliament’s ENVI Committee discussed the two Omnibus VIII proposals to temporarily suspend rules on the appointment of authorised representatives for Extended Producer Responsibility schemes - the same proposals on which FESI had been invited to provide feedback by MEP Ana Vasconcelos (Renew).
• The debate focused on the appropriate scope of the suspension, the need to preserve enforcement and traceability, and the broader fragmentation of EPR systems across the Single Market. Overall, several MEPs expressed caution regarding the proposal, while the forthcoming Circular Economy Act was repeatedly identified as the more appropriate vehicle for broader EPR reform and harmonisation.

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The debate focused in particular on:

• the possible limitation of the suspension to micro and small enterprises, as proposed by the rapporteur;
• the need to preserve traceability, accountability and enforcement, especially for producers established outside the EU;
• the risk that suspending authorised representative requirements could create competitive distortions or shift waste management costs away from producers;
• the broader fragmentation of national EPR systems, including differing registration, reporting, contribution and compliance requirements.

Several speakers also noted the absence of a dedicated impact assessment and argued that the forthcoming Circular Economy Act may be a more appropriate vehicle for broader EPR reform and harmonisation.

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