Wed. Dec 18th, 2024

Main results of the EU Environment Council and EU Commission statements

Dec 18, 2024 , , , , ,

Brussels, 17 December 2024

Plastic pellet losses

EU environment ministers reached a general approach for a regulation on preventing losses of plastic pellets – the industrial raw materials used to make plastic products – to the environment.

The new rules will help to improve the handling of plastic pellets all along the supply chain and their transporting in the EU. This could reduce plastic pellet losses to the environment by up to 74%.

Plastic pellet losses to the environment are the third largest source of all unintentional microplastic releases. The new rules, the first of their kind in the EU, will help companies to minimise plastic pellet losses, contributing to the fight against microplastic pollution, which knows no borders or boundaries.

Anikó Raisz, Hungarian Minister of State for Environmental Affairs and the Circular Economy

Building on the Commission’s proposal, the Council’s general approach strikes a balance between introducing ambitious and effective measures to minimise plastic pellet losses and avoiding unnecessary administrative burden. The text also ensures a level playing field between EU and non-EU carriers and introduces obligations for sea-going vessels transporting plastic pellets.

The general approach agreed today formalises the Council’s negotiating position. Negotiations with the European Parliament on the final shape of the regulation are expected to start in early 2025.

 

End-of-life vehicles

Based on a note prepared by the Hungarian presidency, ministers held a policy debate on the proposed regulation on circularity requirements for vehicle design and on the management of end-of-life vehicles. The regulation aims to enhance sustainability and circularity in the automotive sector, by ensuring that the design of new vehicles makes it easier to recycle and re-use their parts and components.

Discussions showed that important progress has been made on several topics at technical level, including the scope of the regulation, related obligations of producers and authorities, as well as final provisions on review and necessary amendments to relating legislation.

During the policy debate, ministers expressed broad support to the addition of article 192(1) TFEU (protection of the environment) as a legal basis besides article 114 TFEU (functioning of the internal market), and to extending certain obligations to heavy-duty vehicles and motorcycles.

Ministers also held an important debate on the target for minimum recycled content for plastics. A number of member states could support the 25% rate, as proposed by the Commission, while others requested a significantly lower rate and warned that it could for instance lead to market distortions in case of shortage of recycled material. The Council will continue discussions in order to find an acceptable compromise on this matter.

Ministers discussed a possible target for a minimum recycled content for steel. A significant number of member states indicated that a feasibility study, to be conducted by the Commission, would first be needed to better evaluate the implications of setting this target.

Lastly, ministers exchanged views on the vehicles parts and components to be removed before shredding.

 

2040 climate target

Environment ministers exchanged views on the Commission communication on the EU’s 2040 climate target, published on 6 February 2024. The communication recommends a target of 90% net greenhouse gas emissions reduction by 2040 compared to 1990.

Ministers focused their discussion on the prerequisites for a successful transition towards the EU’s 2040 climate target. Regarding the full implementation of the agreed 2030 framework, ministers concurred on the need for simplification in order to reduce administrative burden.

They also stressed that stable and predictable regulatory and investment frameworks are key to ensuring competitiveness. Aligning decarbonisation and industrial policies and achieving more competitive energy prices are also crucial elements in this regard.

For a socially acceptable and just transition, ministers acknowledged the important role of the involvement of citizens and businesses alike, as well as re-skilling and upskilling of workers.

 

Reporting on international meetings

The Hungarian presidency, together with the Commission, briefed ministers on the main recent international meetings and their outcomes:

 

Other business

Ministers received an update from the Commission on the progress of Horizon Europe EU missions as a tool for local climate action.

Ministers heard from Sweden, supported by Denmark, Finland and Luxembourg, on key issues in the targeted revision of the REACH regulation.

Czechia, together with Denmark, France and Slovakia, raised a point on online marketplaces and non-compliance with extended producer responsibility obligations. Austria also addressed the issue of very large online marketplaces and their non-compliance with extended producer responsibility.

France informed ministers about the need to avoid weakening car manufacturers through penalties, while maintaining the targets and ambition of the regulation on CO2 standards for cars and vans.

Lastly, the Polish presidency presented its environmental programme as the incoming presidency.

 

Lunch debate

Over lunch, ministers held an informal discussion with Commissioners Jessica Roswall and Wopke Hoekstra on the Commission’s priorities for 2024-2029 in the field of environment and climate policy.

The Council also adopted without discussion the items on the lists of non-legislative A items.

 

Preparatory documents
Outcome documents
Press releases

Source – EU Council

 

Press statement by Commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy, Jessika Roswall

Brussels, 17 December 2024

I am very happy to have participated in my first Environment Council today. I would like to thank the Hungarian Presidency for the brief but good cooperation. I presented my vision and my priorities to the Ministers. And I look forward to working with the incoming Polish Presidency to lay the ground on our future water resilience strategy and the circular economy act, in particular. We also need to continue the work on pending legislative files, and we have quite a few trilogues. So we will be rather busy! Talking about the circular economy, today in the Council, we had constructive discussions on plastic pollution, end-of-life vehicles and REACH.

Plastic pellets

First, I welcome the general approach reached today by a large majority of Member States on plastic pellets. Microplastic pollution caused by pellets is a big problem. In 2019 alone, between 52 000 and 184 000 tons of pellets were lost to the environment in the EU. And once in the environment, plastic pellets are difficult and costly to clean up. The impact on the environment and on animal life but also on sectors like fisheries, aquaculture and tourism, is enormous. It is also an increasing cause of public concern. I look forward to supporting the upcoming negotiations with the Council and Parliament. And reach an ambitious and workable outcome.

End-of-life vehicles

Second, we exchanged views on the proposed regulation on end-of-life vehicles. We are not yet at a Council position on this file, but the discussion was useful to understand the view points around the table. The Commission proposal from last year replaces two directives that are 20 years old and covers all aspects of a vehicle. It is a regulation that sits very well in the current circularity discussion.

Producing cars requires a lot of resources. The automotive industry in the EU is the N°1 consumer of aluminium (42%), magnesium (44%), platinum group metals (63%), natural rubber (67%) and rare earth elements (30% in 2025, and growing exponentially), and many of these materials are not sourced from Europe. Moving towards more circularity is therefore important both for our environmental footprint and for ensuring Europe’s open strategic autonomy. We need to take an approach where we look at the whole life cycle. From design and placement on the market, until the car’s final treatment at the end-of-life. Also, circularity will play a major role for the sector to keep its competitive edge in the future. The Commission’s proposal will help to boost the resilience of the EU automotive industry and the EU recycling sector. And it will feed directly into the Competitiveness Compass that focuses on innovation, decarbonisation and security. We discussed among other elements:

  • the scope of the regulation and what type of vehicles the rules could apply to;
  • the target of 25% of recycled plastics in new cars, this is important because very little plastics is recycled from end-of-life cars. And less than 5% of recycled plastics is used in new cars;
  • and how to avoid unnecessary administrative burden for SMEs.
REACH

Third, we also held a discussion on REACH. The REACH legislation is by now twenty years old. It was developed by another Commissioner from Sweden at the time. A lot happens in 20 years. We have seen how the procedures work out in practice, and there is clearly scope for more efficiency and speed. There are now gaps in the level of protection of the environment and human health. We know more about chemical substances and their effects today than we did 2 decades ago. As you know, the Commission aims to propose a targeted revision of REACH by the end of 2025. I am working on this together with Stéphane Séjourné. This revision will simplify and modernise the existing rules so that companies can benefit from more predictability and certainty without compromising on the level of protection that our citizens and the environment need. And we want to make sure that authorities are better informed and therefore citizens are better protected against risks for their health when it
comes to daily life products. Making REACH more efficient is the way forward to shape our competitiveness in a sustainable way.

Thank you.

Source – EU Commission

 

Remarks by EU Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra at the press conference following the Environment Council

Brussels, 17 December 2025

“Check against delivery”

Ladies and Gentlemen,

A very good evening to all of you.

Let me start by thanking Anikó personally, but also the Hungarian Presidency more broadly for the very good cooperation here in Brussels and also far away from home, in Baku in particular, where the terrain was not necessarily easy.

It took a lot of hard work, but the result, in my view, was as good as it could possibly be. Our collaboration there was truly exemplary.

Ladies and gentlemen,

This was the first ENVI Council of the new mandate.

A lot of excitement on my side, on the side of the Commission, and I sense it also with many of the Member States.

Because there is a lot that we need to do going forward, in terms of the Clean Industrial Deal, in terms of ever more climate diplomacy, in terms of preparedness, adaptation, security, but also of course in terms of setting the 2040 targets and making sure we head off with an NDC that we need to take to Belém.

We had a conversation on 2040 of course as well.

I have articulated again why we feel we should be science-based and go for a 90% target, and yet the conversation that we would like to have with Member States, in our view, should very much focus on the prerequisites.

So how do we make sure that we reach our climate targets? Yet at the same time, how do we manage to secure ever more competitiveness for our companies, and bridging that, marrying that with a just transition for our people, which in my view is of pivotal importance.

Continuing with climate ambition, we need to make sure that emissions go down, but also that competitiveness goes up.

We also spoke, as Anikó said, about the truly pressing issue of climate adaptation, preparedness and security.

As a sober reminder, the horrible events in Mayotte come only a couple of weeks after Valencia.

Unfortunately, that will be the new normal.

We will see more of these type of events across the globe, but certainly also in Europe, where if you take the 1.5 degrees as a measurement for the globe as a whole, we unfortunately will see something that is much closer to 3 degrees, and therefore more adverse effects in terms of droughts, in terms of heavy weather, in terms of flooding, in all Member States.

So it’s a sober reminder of what is needed.

But good to meet everyone here, a productive and constructive conversation on the priorities going forward, and I’m looking forward to a fruitful, but also intensive, next couple of years.

Thank you.

Source – EU Commission

 

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