Question for Written Answer E-002400/2021

Subject: Request for information about the entry into force of Directive (EU) 2019/904 and its effects on the plastics industry

Directive (EU) 2019/904 on single use plastics provides for the publication of guidelines and implementing acts to clarify the Directive’s provisions and give the Member States and the packaging industry a guarantee that the Directive will be implemented in all Member States under the same conditions.

The guidelines are still being developed at present and Member States and the plastics industry have not been given sight of an official and definitive version that would enable them to adapt to the legislation and plan for future investments.

The industrial plastics sector is one of the EU’s most important manufacturing sectors in terms of jobs, and has an extremely good environmental record. It has contributed to the production of crucially important products in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

1. Does the Commission think that the deadline for implementation should be deferred because of the delay in issuing the guidelines and the implementing acts, in order to allow the firms concerned time for a proper and gradual transition?

2. Does the Commission consider that it assessed carefully the effects this directive will have on the environment and on the whole of EU industry in this sector?

3. Does the Commission plan to assess whether the entry into force of the SUP Directive could be deferred and based on the WHO’s end of pandemic declaration?

PE693.136v01-00