circular economy

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The Compass aims to address concerns about productivity and maintain Europe’s leading role in sustainable innovation and climate neutrality.

By Paul A. Davies, Michael D. Green, and James Bee

On 29 January 2025, the European Commission (the Commission) launched the Competitiveness Compass, a strategic initiative that builds on the work undertaken by Mario Draghi. His report, commonly known as the Draghi Report, identified that the EU could no longer rely on many of the essential elements to the…

As part of the European Green Deal ambitions, the proposal encourages sustainable consumption through additional incentives to repair products to reduce waste and emissions.

By Paul A. Davies, Michael D. Green, and James Bee

On 22 March 2023, the European Commission (Commission) adopted a new proposal on common rules promoting the repair of goods (the Proposal). The Proposal seeks to deliver on the environmental targets outlined in the European Green Deal, specifically regarding sustainable consumption, by increasing consumer incentives to repair products rather than replace them, especially after a product’s legal guarantee under the EU’s Sale of Goods Directive has expired. The Proposal will therefore aim to create growth in the market for refurbished products, furthering the Green Deal ambition of promoting a circular economy.

Making Europe greener, fairer, and more sustainable is at the heart of the European Commission’s new work programme.

By Paul Davies, David Little, Michael D. Green, and Pierre Bichet

On 19 October 2020, the European Commission (Commission) published its Work Programme (Programme) for 2021. The Programme — “A Union of vitality in a world of fragility” — provides an overview of the Commission’s legislative priorities for the upcoming year and a timeline on when legislative initiatives will likely be published.

The initiatives for 2021 have been revised to support the economic recovery given the COVID-19 pandemic. The Programme makes clear that the recovery should be both green and sustainable.

The EU Commission aims to enshrine into law the 2050 climate-neutrality target and has taken further steps to establish a unified EU “green” classification system.

By Paul A. Davies, Michael D. Green, and Federica Rizzo

The European Green Deal, presented on 11 December 2019, provides a roadmap with actions aimed at boosting the efficient use of resources and the circular economy, decarbonising the energy sector, and investing in environmentally friendly technologies.

On 4 March 2020, the EU Commission (the Commission) published its Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the framework for achieving climate neutrality and amending Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 (the proposed European Climate Law). This year, the Commission will also present measures to increase the EU’s greenhouse gas emission reduction target for 2030, which will require additional investments of €260 billion a year by 2030, and to promote a climate-neutral EU by 2050.

The Action Plan is part of the European Green Deal promoting actions to boost the efficient use of resources by moving to a cleaner and more competitive Europe.

By Paul A. Davies, Michael D. Green and Federica Rizzo

On 11 March 2020, the European Commission published its Communication to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee, and the Committee of the Regions laying down the details of a new “Circular Economy Action Plan For a Cleaner and more Competitive Europe”.

The first Circular Economy Action Plan, which entered into force in 2018, led to the adoption and implementation of measures regulating the entire lifecycle of products, from production and consumption to waste management and the creation of a market for secondary raw materials.

The Directive aims to reduce the impact of plastic products and therefore help protect the environment and human health.

By Paul A. Davies and Michael D. Green

On June 12, 2019, a new directive was published that aims to help protect land and marine environments, as well as human health. The mandate — Directive (EU) 2019/904 on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic products on the environment (Single-Use Plastics Directive, or the Directive) — introduces measures to prevent and reduce the impact of certain plastic products, and promote transition to a circular economy.

The Directive encourages the prioritization of “sustainable and non-toxic re-usable products and re-use systems”. This approach aims to reduce plastic waste, drive the promotion and development of alternative materials, and promote the design and production of plastics and plastic products that are re-usable, repairable, and recyclable.

The Directive contains a number of substantive measures that will impact Member States, which are explored in this post.

Member States will follow a single EU legislative framework merging industrial policies and environmental protection to encourage sustainable economic and social development.

By Paul A. Davies and Jörn Kassow

The European Parliament adopted the new Circular Economy Package, on 18 April 2018, setting ambitious, legally binding EU targets for waste recycling and reduction of landfilling. The package aims to further increase municipal waste recycling and lower the amount of landfilling. Currently, over a quarter of municipal waste is still landfilled and less than half is recycled or composted. This has a negative impact on the environment, climate, human health, as well as the economy.

Through the updated waste management legislation, the EU promotes a shift to a more sustainable model known as the circular economy. This is a model of production and consumption that extends the lifecycle of products, components, and materials, to reduce waste disposal to a minimum. This shall replace the former linear economic model, which is based on a “take-make-consume-throw away” pattern and therefore wastes a lot of resources and energy.