Mr Cameron took questions from MPs during a liaison committee session yesterday, and was asked by the chair of the Environmental Audit Committee, Stoke on Trent North MP Joan Walley, if the government supported the air quality and circular economy proposals that were dropped by the Commission yesterday (December 16).
In his response, Mr Cameron echoed comments made by the Defra minister Dan Rogerson earlier in the day that the government wanted to see ‘sensible legislation’ around reducing waste.
He said: “We have always supported sensible legislation on reducing waste and using resources.
“We try to support sensible measures but we don’t want to see excessive regulation and we want to get the balance right.”
The Prime Minister’s comments come after the European Commission’s vice president Frans Timmermans revealed that the EU will drop the circular economy policy proposals drafted under the watch of the former Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik, opting instead to draft a new, ‘more ambitious’ set of proposals in 2015.
It had been feared that the plans to overhaul waste legislation had been scrapped altogether; after a draft version of the Commission’s work programme for 2015 leaked last week stated that ‘no foreseeable agreement’ could be reached on the proposals (see letsrecycle.com story).
Lobbying
However, in the face of fierce lobbying from pro-environment MEPs and a number of trade bodies and campaign groups, Commissioners Timmermans and Jean-Claude Juncker – the Commission President – appear to have changed their stance on changes to the waste legislation.
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Plans to drop the Potocnik proposals, which included an increased recycling target of 70% by 2030, are likely to be welcomed by Defra, which has expressed doubts over the feasibility of a higher target.
Speaking from Brussels today, Defra’s resource minister Dan Rogerson, said: “We’re committed to improving air quality and making better use of our resources – we will continue to work closely with the European Commission as they bring forward their modified proposals.”
Reactions to yesterday’s announcement by the Commission have remained cautiously optimistic, with some welcoming the reprieve for waste legislation, despite the lack of any firm details over what the Commission will look to bring forward.
Labour
Commenting yesterday, Seb Dance, Labour MEP for London and the party’s environment spokesman in Strasbourg, said: “It is mildly encouraging to hear from the Commission that they intend to bring in a new circular economy package in next year’s work programme. The Labour Party will hold him to this promise and will ensure that the package is properly scrutinised to ensure it truly is a more ambitious proposal than the current package.”
However, Ray Georgeson, chief executive of the Resource Association, the body representing the UK’s reprocessing sector, sounded a note of caution, stating that the decision by the Commission would lead to uncertainty for industry.
He said: “With the Commission saying they are withdrawing the package and intending to bring it back with revisions to make it ‘more ambitious’, in our view this raises more questions than it answers. I do not see why the package needed to be withdrawn completely – which it has – in order to inject more ‘ambition’. Surely this could have been done within the existing timetable, and maintained momentum?
“By deprioritising the package for this year’s programme the Commission signal they do not see the circular economy as a priority that delivers jobs and growth in line with their stated objectives for revising their work. This underplays the significance of the potential of the circular economy, however much discussion is necessary on aspects of the detailed programme, as a generator of sustainable green jobs and growth.”
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