23/03/2020
1.) BREXIT
The UK officially left the EU at midnight on 1 February 2020 and is therefore no longer an EU Member State. During the transition period, which started from this date and is provisionally due to last until 31 December 2020, all EU legislation will still apply to the UK, and the country will remain a member of the Single Market and the Customs Union. Brexit reduces the number of EU Member States to 27.
2.) THE EUROPEAN GREEN DEAL
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission (EC), gained Parliamentary support in July 2019 by promising to put climate action at the heart of the next European Commission and present a European Green Deal (EGD) within her first 100 days. Given the one-month delay in taking office, the Commission published its Communication on the European Green Deal after only 10 days, on 11 December 2019.
The Communication includes an initial roadmap of the key policies and measures needed to achieve the European Green Deal, which is to be updated as needs evolve and the policy responses are formulated. An accompanying annex provides an indicative timeline of expected policies, initiatives, and strategies.
Key recent developments under the European Green Deal:
a.) The European Climate Law: On 4 March 2020 the European Commission presented its proposal for a European Climate Law – legislation that will legally bind the EU to its 2050 carbon neutrality objective.
Key points of interest for our industry:
b.) The European Industrial Strategy: On 10 March 2020 the European Commission presented the new European Industrial Strategy with the aim of making Europe’s businesses future-ready and achieving the objective of a globally competitive, green, and digital Europe. The package, consisting of an industrial strategy and other papers on SMEs and the internal market, identifies building a more circular economy as one of the key actions to address the twin challenges of going green (and digital) while maintaining economic competitiveness. The strategy consists of the following initiatives:
Key points of interest for our industry:
c.) The Circular Economy Action Plan: on 11 March 2020, the European Commission adopted a Circular Economy Action Plan as part of the EGD. The Plan focuses on the design and production of a circular economy, with the aim of ensuring that resources are kept in circulation for as long as possible.
Key points of interest for our industry: