SUMMARY

On 21 October, the European Parliament held a plenary debate on the forthcoming Circular Economy Act.

1. The Council and Commission used the debate to outline several expected priorities for the proposal, including stronger markets for secondary raw materials, greater harmonisation of Extended Producer Responsibility schemes, simplification, digitalisation and reduced dependence on imported raw materials.
2. Overall, the discussion confirmed broad political support for using circularity as a tool to strengthen EU competitiveness and strategic autonomy, while differences remain over the level of harmonisation and the use of binding requirements.

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MORE INFORMATION

Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra highlighted several areas expected to feature prominently in the CEA, including:

• stronger demand and a better Single Market for secondary raw materials;
• greater harmonisation of EPR schemes and common end-of-waste criteria;
• digitalisation, stronger enforcement and regulatory simplification;
• improved recovery of strategic resources, including from electrical and electronic waste.

The Irish Presidency similarly stressed the need to address fragmented EPR requirements, reduce administrative burdens for SMEs and strengthen markets for recycled materials.

Several MEPs also referred to the potential role of a digital EPR One-Stop Shop to simplify registration and cross-border compliance.

Across political groups, there was broad agreement on the need to strengthen European recycling capacity and reduce raw-material dependencies.

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NEXT STEPS

The debate provides further indications of the political priorities likely to shape negotiations once the Circular Economy Act is published. As a reminder, we currently expect to see the proposal on 18 November - though delays are still possible at this stage.

FESI will continue monitoring developments closely, particularly regarding EPR harmonisation, the One-Stop Shop, secondary raw material markets and end-of-waste criteria.

Members will be informed of any relevant updates.

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