Brussels, 18 October 2017 – In view of the forthcoming inter-institutional negotiations to finalise the revision of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (PPWD), as part of the Circular Economy Package, EUROPEN and 126 other EU and national industry associations, representing a vast range of sectors, call on the EU to safeguard the free movement of (packaged) goods.
In their cross-industry joint statement released today at a breakfast event organised by EUROPEN, these 127 organisations express their deep concern about Member States paving the way to effectively re-nationalise packaging policy in the near future, endangering the Internal Market for all packaged goods.
This urgent concern relates to Member States’ wish to change the legal base for several provisions of the revised PPWD from the Internal Market to Environmental Protection. This will not as such result in higher environmental standards, but risks opening a Pandora’s Box of divergent national regulations. The signatories urge EU policymakers to retain the Internal Market as the sole legal base of the PPWD.
“We fully support high environmental protection standards and welcome the revision of the PPWD as an important milestone for raising the bar in terms of packaging and packaging waste management,” said Hans van Bochove, Coca-Cola European Partners, and Chairman of EUROPEN. “But EU industries cannot achieve the objectives of the EU Circular Economy package without the Internal Market. More –and not less – EU wide harmonising measures will be needed for a Circular Economy in Europe.”
“We shouldn’t fool ourselves that this is just a technical, legal question with no consequences,” said Martin Reynolds, Crown Europe, EUROPEN board member. “It is a political choice about whether we want a proper Internal Market or not. Our answer is clear: we absolutely need a strong EU Internal Market, unhampered by regulatory trade barriers, to provide the necessary scale in supply chains, operations, investment and innovation for successful Circular Economy solutions.” “We hope that this unprecedented industry call will not remain ignored during the forthcoming PPWD inter-institutional negotiations”, he concluded.
