by Verità&Affari editorial team
Approved by the Member States on Packaging Regulation and the Business Due Diligence Directive for sustainability purposes. The decision was adopted at the level of Ambassadors in the Committee of Deputy Permanent Representatives to the European Union (Coreper). This is the last step for the adoption of the two measures after negotiations with the European Parliament and will then be formalized by the latter and by the ministers of the Twenty-seven. With this agreement between the Twenty-Seven, the approved texts will now be transmitted to the European Parliament and then to the Council for final adoption.
Meloni’s satisfaction
Satisfaction from the Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni. Who underlined that “we have demonstrated that today in Brussels it exists an Italy that doesn’t give up to solutions that penalize our industry, but which is capable of continuing to negotiate until the end in a decisive manner, asserting the validity of its arguments, enhancing our excellence and managing to substantially modify the final result”. According to the Prime Minister, “the credit for these successes must be attributed to the proactive action ensured by the ministries involved, in close coordination with Palazzo Chigi, to the negotiating activity conducted by our diplomatic representatives in Brussels, but also to the crucial team work carried out by our MEPs, who were able to cut across political lines. We have demonstrated how a cohesive and determined Italy can truly shift the balance in Brussels and play a leading role.”
What the Regulation provides
The Packaging Regulation should, according to EU legislators, increase the sustainability of the sector by promoting greater recyclability. Furthermore, it introduces common rules on labeling and waste management. The provision, we read in a note from Palazzo Chigi, will also commit member states to reducing waste by leaving it flexibility to States and operators in choosing the measures to achieve the objective, in particular between reusable packaging and recyclable disposable packaging, where the latter, as in the case of the catering sector, still represent the option that offers the result environmentally better and for the conservation of agricultural and food products.
The role of Italy
The agreement came after complex negotiations in which Italy played a crucial role. The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive will help ensure that supply chains of major European companies are as respectful as possible of human rights and environmental sustainability. Italy, underlines Palazzo Chigi, has played a key role in achieving a balanced and effective text, which concentrates the burdens on large companies (over 1,000 employees and 450 million in global turnover) better able to monitor their supply chains and contribute to mitigating the effects of economic activities on climate change, as well as protecting the human rights of people affected by business activity .