EEB input to the EU Environment Council Meeting, Brussels, 17 December 2024

In this letter, the EEB provided input to the EU Environment Council Meeting, Brussels, 17 December 2024, addressing all Environment Ministers of EU Member States, the Commission President, Executive Vice-President for the Clean, Just and Competitive Transition, and Commissioners for Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy, Climate, Net Zero and Clean Growth, Energy and Housing, Health and Animal Welfare, and the Chair of the European Parliament Environment Committee.

The EEB’s demands come structured according to our understanding of the 17 December Council Agenda, alongside our vision for the next legislative cycle i.e., under the following headlines:

1. Regulation on circularity requirements for vehicle design and on management of end-of-life vehicles
2. Regulation on preventing plastic pellet losses to reduce microplastic pollution
3. Communication on Europe’s 2040 climate target
4. Key issues in the targeted revision of REACH
5. Conclusions on preparations for the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP 29) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) (Baku, Azerbaijan, 11-22 November 2024)
6. Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) (Cali, Colombia, 21 October – 1 November 2024)
7. Preparations for the 5th session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to Develop an International Legally Binding Instrument on Plastic Pollution (INC-5) (Busan, Republic of Korea, 25 November – 1 December 2024)
8. Work programme of the incoming Presidency: Information from Poland

The EEB provided further inputs in Annex 1: The Cost of Inaction: Why Environmental Standards Are Key to EU Competitiveness.