Policy updates – January 2020

The European Green Deal / Communication

The Commission’s communication identifies the policy priorities for the next five years, including revision of existing legislation and proposal of new regulations. It outlines all the initiatives that the Commission will put forward in the areas of climate policy, energy policy, circular economy, mobility and transport, common agricultural policy, biodiversity policy and environmental policy. The annex includes a detailed breakdown of the initiatives to be adopted no later than 2021.

New circular economy action plan / Roadmap

The Commission opened a public consultation to gather comments from stakeholders and the general public on the new action plan that will be presented no later than March 2020. Inter alia, it will include measures to reduce waste generation and proposals to revise existing waste laws – e.g. waste shipment regulation. The action plan will support the development of an internal market for secondary raw materials. It will also consider opportunities for closing loops fro biological materials. New actions will be proposed for bio-based and biodegradable plastics.

Climate law / Roadmap – legislative proposal

The Commission opened a public consultation which will close 6^th February 2020. The Climate law will enshrine the EU objective of climate neutrality by 2050 in legislation. The law will also address public and private investment rules to make funding more consistent with the climate objective. The proposal should identify ways to make investments climate-proof. It means that long-term climate impacts should be considered in investment strategies. The law will also mandate the Commission to conduct an impact-assessment to raise the 2030 greenhouse gas emission reduction target up to 50%.

EU biodiversity strategy to 2030 / Roadmap

In October 2020, an intergovernmental conference of the United Nations will take place to amend the existing UN Convention on biodiversity protection. The EU will outline its position in the upcoming strategy that should be presented no later than March 2020. The Commission proposals to address biodiversity loss include measures to promote the sustainable use of agriculture ecosystem and to restore damaged ecosystems, including carbon-rich ecosystems. Concrete implementation actions will be put forward by 2021.