Future EU packaging legislation is to focus on harmonisation and standardisation while fostering the circular economy. In line with that objective the European Commission has already announced plans to replace the current Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (PPWD) with a Regulation. Unlike Directives, Regulations are immediately applicable in the member states once they have entered into force. In another move designed to align packaging law in the member states, a current draft of the proposed Regulation seen by EUWID would establish Article 114 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) as the legal basis for the proposal, rather than the “Environment Article” 192. The Environment Article allows member states to adopt stricter national measures.
The differing regulatory approaches the various member states have used so far “create obstacles” that prevent the internal market for packaging, packaged goods, and “secondary raw materials for packaging” from fully functioning, the Commission said justifying its decision. The current legislation has not achieved its general environmental and internal market goals, according to the draft, “so harmonisation is necessary in the form of a Regulation”. According to the text, areas requiring harmonisation include sustainability requirements for packaging, the criteria for the “eco-modulation” of fees under the extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes, and labelling requirements....
