{"id":108497,"date":"2022-10-18T15:50:52","date_gmt":"2022-10-18T13:50:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/?p=108497"},"modified":"2022-10-18T16:16:50","modified_gmt":"2022-10-18T14:16:50","slug":"commissions-2023-work-programme-caves-under-chemical-and-farm-industry-pressures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/en\/commissions-2023-work-programme-caves-under-chemical-and-farm-industry-pressures\/","title":{"rendered":"Commission’s 2023 Work Programme caves under chemical and farm industry pressures"},"content":{"rendered":"

Released today, the<\/span> European Commission Work <\/span>Programme<\/span> (CWP)<\/span> for 2023 <\/span>scraps<\/span>\u00a0bold plans <\/span>to protect Europeans from <\/span>hazardous chemicals and <\/span>transition to <\/span>a nature-p<\/span>ositive economy<\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

Pressure from the powerful chemical industry and farming lobbies pushed EU top-level officials to betray their own commitments to deliver several key laws by 2023. The last work programme issued by the College of Commissioners chaired by Ursula von der Leyen ahead of the 2024 European elections leaves a legacy of thwarted ambitions.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span><\/i>EU officials’ hard work in delivering a transformative Green Deal legislative roadmap is bogged down by last-minute political decisions coming from top-level Commissioners. This unjustified self-sabotage only responds to political and industry pressure. P<\/span><\/i>eople are asking for bold policies to speed up <\/span><\/i>the pace of change towards a clean, resilient and toxic-free future. By prioritising profits over people and the environment, the <\/span><\/i>EU risks losing citizens\u2019 trust\u201d, <\/span><\/i>said Patrick ten Brink, the EEB\u2019s Secretary General.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The European Environmental Bureau, as the largest European network of green NGOs, summarises the delays and omissions in the European Commission’s 2023 Work Programme undermining its Green Deal and zero pollution ambitions:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Chemicals law<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The CWP 2023<\/span>, <\/span>adopted by the<\/span> College of Commissioners<\/span> today, <\/span>is set to delay the start of the reform <\/span>of REACH, the centrepiece of Europe\u2019s regulation of chemicals<\/span>,<\/span> by a year to the last quarter of 2023. With European Parliament elections in 2024, the delay is effectively \u2018game over\u2019 for the much-needed improvements of chemicals regulation under <\/span>this Commission. <\/span>No complex reform has ever been completed in such a short period of time.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a screeching U-turn away from excellent plans for greater environmental and health protections and towards the interests of industrial polluters. They are doing this in the name of helping firms through the energy crisis, but that is just a smokescreen. The sector made\u202f<\/span><\/i>excellent profits<\/span><\/i><\/a>\u202fin the last decade and has generous reserves, while on the other hand, the reforms will take many years to come into force with no short-term impacts on them. This is a major blow to the EU Green Deal\u201d, <\/span><\/i>explains <\/span>Tatiana Santos<\/span><\/b>, the EEB\u2019s Head of Chemicals Policy.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Toxic pollution regulation<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The status is also unclear for other important files to protect human health and the environment. These include the Mercury and the Cosmetics Regulations, the r<\/span>evision<\/span> of the EU rules<\/span> to<\/span> improv<\/span>e<\/span> access to and availability<\/span> of chemical safety data<\/span>, <\/span>as well as the review of the Restrictions of Hazardous Substances in Electrical<\/span> and Electronic Equipment (RoHS) Directive. Another eagerly anticipated initiative is the EU\u2019s Integrated Nutrient Management Action Plan t<\/span>o<\/span> tackle <\/span>nutrient pollution and inefficiencies in the nutrient cycl<\/span>e<\/span> thus <\/span>improv<\/span>ing<\/span> food security, protect<\/span>ing<\/span> human health and preserv<\/span>ing<\/span> the ecosystem<\/span>s<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While all of those were foreseen for the last quarter of 2022 (except for chemical safety data expected in the first quarter of 2023) and announced as delayed, they now do not appear on the Commission\u2019s to-do list for next year at all.<\/span> Instead, the Commission is expected to publish a \u201cFertilisers Strategy\u201d in November, which has been developed without adequate public consultation and is feared to narrowly cater to the fertiliser and intensive agriculture industries\u2019 interests<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Forest strategy<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Another worrying omission from the Working Programme is the forgotten legal proposal to step up forest monitoring, reporting and data collection in the EU announced in the EU\u2019s <\/span>Forest Strategy.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur forests need help, and a new EU law was expected to do that job. Harmonised EU data collection, combined with strategic planning at Members States’ level, will provide a comprehensive picture of the state of our forests and envisage their future. This is paramount to making sure that forests can deliver on their multiple functions for climate, biodiversity and economy\u201d<\/span><\/i> said <\/span>Sergiy Moroz<\/span><\/b>, the EEB\u2019s Policy Manager for Biodiversity and Water<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Right to repair<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Further, it is disappointing to see no mention of the initiative on \u2018Sustainable Consumption of Goods \u2013 promoting repair and reuse\u2019 in the 2023 Work Programme, following the proposal\u2019s rejection by the Regulatory Scrutiny Board.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWith the stalling of this legislation, consumers, currently faced with a cost-of-living crisis, will continue to be forced to replace rather than repair their devices \u2013 unnecessarily driving up expenditure alongside hazardous e-waste. Repair is a key component of the Circular Economy model, and so its omission from the Circular Economy Package in November is a missed opportunity. It should therefore be retabled as early as possible in 2023\u201d, <\/span><\/i>said <\/span>Orla Butler<\/span><\/b>, the EEB\u2019s Policy Officer for Circular Economy.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Economic governance<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Economic Governance framework review, including Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) albeit fiscal rules reform, has already been delayed but is finally part of this CWP. The European Commission leaves it open whether it will be a legislative or non-legislative process.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEU fiscal rules are not fit anymore for the challenges we face and need to be aligned with sustainability and wellbeing goals instead of infinite economic growth. A fiscal reform of such importance should follow a democratic and transparent process that includes a formal role for the European Parliament, hence an ordinary legislative procedure\u201d, <\/span><\/i>said <\/span>Katy Wiese<\/span><\/b>, the EEB\u2019<\/span>s Policy Officer for Economic Transition.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Released today, the European Commission Work Programme (CWP) for 2023 scraps\u00a0bold plans to protect Europeans from hazardous chemicals and transition to a nature-positive economy.\u00a0 Pressure from [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":101995,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[569,4,144],"tags":[52,778,780,777,779,50,342],"class_list":["post-108497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-eu-green-deal","category-press-release","category-homepage","tag-chemicals","tag-cosmetics","tag-economic-governance","tag-fertilisers","tag-forest-strategy","tag-mercury","tag-right-to-repair"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/europe-609118-pixabay.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108497"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108497\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}