The European Commission presents its 2016 Work Programme
The Commission published on 27 October its 2016 Work Programme.
Compared to other years there are considerably less open files, what is in line with the Commission’s objective to have better and more focused regulation. Nonetheless, Energy Union and the Circular Economy still remain among the top priorities for 2016. The work programme is titled “No time for business as usual”, referring to the numerous challenges that the EU is facing.
The Work Programme establishes new priorities, some focusing on the Circular Economy and the Energy Union Package. Regarding the first, the Commission seeks to address economic and environmental concerns with the aim of enabling the development of new markets and business models. The package will consist of a broad action plan, including actions on monitoring effective progress, and a waste proposal with long-term targets. Actions to simplify REACH registration are also being considered.
On the Energy Union Package, the Commission will include legislative proposals on electricity market design and the regulatory framework, including the review of the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER), and the revision of the Regulation on security of electricity supply; the revision of the Regulation on security of gas supply and the revision of the Decision on inter-governmental agreements; the effort sharing decision and integration of the Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry sector (LULUCF) into the 2030 climate framework; a renewable energy package (REFIT), including sustainability criteria for biomass.
EBA is working on the Energy Union and Circular Economy files, providing its expertise to the European Commission as well as to the Parliament and Council.
More information here.
