ACR+

A wind of change started to blow over the European Union on 23-26 May 2019 with the election of a new European Parliament. One of the first tasks of the new deputies has been to elect on 16 July 2019 German Ursula von der Leyen as future President of the European Commission for the upcoming five years, starting from November 2019. Amongst her first announcements, she declared that she will focus on an ambitious climate agenda to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. She added that the fight against climate change is not only an urgent moral, human and political obligation but also a long-term economic imperative, stating that “those who act first and fastest will be the ones who grasp the opportunities from the ecological transition”.

Also in this issue:

• Single-use plastic directive
• New rules to collect and recycle waste from ships
• Finland to pursue ambitious circular economy agenda during EU Council presidency
• 100+ signatories commit to use 10 million tons of recycled plastic in new products by 2025
• 9th legislature of the European Parliament
• Circular economy strategies and roadmaps in Europe