Striving to be the first carbon neutral continent by 2050 is undoubtedly a great challenge. To achieve this, the European Commission has developed its Green Deal – an ambitious package of measures designed to enable people and businesses to transition into a green and sustainable future.
As of March 2020, the Commission will adopt an EU Industrial Strategy to address the twin challenge of the ‘green’ and ‘digital’ transformation. Together with the Industrial Strategy, a new ‘Circular Economy Action Plan’ is intended to help modernize Europe’s economic outlook and draw benefit from the many opportunities presented.
A key aim of the new policy framework will be to stimulate the development of lead markets for climate neutral and circular products. Additionally, the Circular Economy Action Plan will include a ‘sustainable products’ policy to support the circular design of all products based on common methodology and principles. It will prioritize reducing and reusing materials before recycling them. It will foster new business models and set minimum requirements to prevent environmentally harmful products from being placed on the EU market. Extended producer responsibility will also be strengthened.