Brussels — As part of the trio Estonia-Bulgaria-Austria, Bulgaria has taken over the Presidency of the European Union from January until June 2018. In this context, the European Environmental Bureau (EEB) has published „Ten Green Tests“. They are to measure wether this presidency will promote a greener, more sustainable Europe, where the destructive impact on the climate, biodiversity and public health in Europe and beyond is rapidly decreased, or not. Among items like sustainable development, fighting climate change and reforming energy policy the test wants to investigate the support of circular economy and waste minimisation.
- Following the publication of the EU Plastics Strategy, the Bulgarian EU Presidency should work towards council conclusions supporting legislative measures limiting both macro- and micro-plastic items leaking into the environment, and reinforcing tracking and controlling the use of substances of concern in a circular economy;
- Ensure the Commission does not create further delays and delivers on resources savings through Ecodesign and Energy Labelling, and take the advantage of new energy labeling schemes consultation process and testing to propose wide communication at national levels on the merits of the policy for transforming the market towards more durable and reparable products;
- Building on the annual report of the European Commission on the implementation of the EU Circular Economy Action Plan, the Informal Environmental Council should reflect on the need for future actions on promoting the transition towards a more circular economy through a more coherent EU product policy framework, digitization and international collaboration.
The full test paper can be downloaded under eeb.org.
Source: European Environmental Bureau (EEB)
