EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

1.CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL

•Reasons for and objectives of the proposal

The Resolution 5/14 “End Plastic Pollution: towards an international legally binding instrument”, adopted by the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) in March 2022, sets out a mandate for negotiations by an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) of an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment. The INC is expected to conclude its work by the end of 2024, with a first meeting to take place in 2022. UNEA may extend this mandate in time, if needed.

Resolution 5/14 was adopted following a series of UNEA resolutions since 2014, with UNEA3 representing a key milestone with UN Member States supporting a number of actions to eliminate the discharge of plastic litter and microplastics into the ocean and the establishment of an ad-hoc open-ended expert group on marine litter and micro-plastics (AHEG) to explore barriers to combating marine litter and microplastics. The AHEG concluded its work in 2020. It identified a number of response options to the global crisis of plastic pollution, including a global agreement on plastics, supported by majority of participants of the expert group, representing almost all regions. In October 2021 the UN report “From Pollution to Solution: a Global Assessment of Marine Litter and Plastic Pollution” was published to inform UNEA 5.2 on the extent and aspects of global marine litter and plastic pollution.

Following a like-minded meeting hosted by the European Commission in 2020, Peru and Rwanda prepared a resolution with the objective of launching negotiations for a new international agreement on plastic pollution at UNEA5. Several international events, including a Ministerial Conference on Marine Litter and Plastic Pollution hosted by Germany, Ecuador, Vietnam and Ghana in 2021, contributed to building momentum for the resolution and ultimately resulted in final adoption of the resolution by consensus.

The objective of this Recommendation is to ensure a consistent and efficient negotiation position of the European Union (EU) in the sessions of the INC, with a view to negotiating and concluding an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution.

•Consistency with existing policy provisions in the policy area

The launch of negotiations for an international agreement on plastics is a key achievement of the European Union’s Green Deal, the Circular Economy Action Plan and linked to a significant number of EU policies and legislation including on the protection of the marine and coastal environment, notably the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). Ensuring an international agreement on plastics that tackles plastic pollution at its source instead of engaging at costly and not fully effective end of pipe solutions has thus been one of the Union’s key environmental priorities for global action over the past few years. This follows from dedicated and progressive Union policy initiatives and legislation on plastics in recent times. In 2018, a Plastics Strategy, forming part of the Circular Economy Action Plan, set forth a blueprint to protect our environment and reduce marine litter, greenhouse gas emissions and our dependence on imported fossil fuels. Concrete action on plastics includes the impact of certain plastic products on the environment, single use plastics, the role of plastics in the circular economy, ecodesign requirements and labelling, plastics and packaging waste and the upcoming initiatives on intentionally added and un-intentionally released microplastics. The Strategy also analysed the potential for harnessing global action, identifying the need (inter alia) for the development of international standards to boost industry confidence in the quality of recyclable or recycled plastics. In relation to waste shipments, it noted the importance of ensuring that any plastics sent abroad for recycling are handled and processed under conditions similar to those applicable in the EU, supporting action on waste management under the Basel Convention, and it proposed development of an EU certification scheme for recycling plants. It called for a global industry effort to promote widespread use of recyclable and recycled plastics. In the frame of the Circular Economy Action Plan, the Commission will additionally propose mandatory requirements for recycled content and waste reduction measures for key products such as packaging, construction materials and vehicles. Under the abovementioned MSFD, in September 2020 the EU and its Member States agreed that there should be no more than 20 litter items per 100 meters of coastline, placing the EU in a frontrunner position for fulfilling SDG 14.1, which requires to “By 2025, prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution (…) including marine debris (…)”. The support activities underpinning the implementation of the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), executed in close collaboration with the Regional Sea Conventions, have demonstrated that harmonisation of monitoring, data acquisition and handling in the different environmental matrices is crucial for enabling prioritisation of efforts and for the verification of effectiveness of measures against plastic litter. Under the MSFD Common Implementation Strategy, the Technical Group on Marine Litter is, in close collaboration with Regional Sea Conventions, providing technical harmonisation and collaborates with EMODnet, providing a data platform for marine litter data. The new international agreement will address plastic pollution, including in the marine environment. Pollution and the tackling of its sources is also a key priority of the European Green Deal, most recently in the Commission’s strategy on Zero Pollution to air, water and soil and the Chemicals Strategy on Sustainability. The recently adopted Zero Pollution Action Plan set reduction targets for 2030 (i. e. to reduce plastic litter at sea by 50 % and microplastics released into the environment by 30%), further boosting the effectiveness of EU policies against marine litter and its impacts. Addressing plastic pollution at a global level thus very much dovetails with multiple existing Union policies and legislation relating to the protection of the environment from pollution. This can include waste, shipments of waste, chemicals, bathing water, and other (such as Urban Waste Water Treatment and Water Framework Directives). The EU contributes substantially to international initiatives directly related to curbing plastic pollution, such as the implementation of the Basel Convention on the transboundary shipments of waste, as recently amended with enhanced controls on plastic waste, and the IMO (International Maritime Organisation) Action Plan against plastic litter and microplastics. Furthermore, the EU participates actively in all actions against plastic pollution in the marine regions around Europe (through technical and financial support to the Regional Action Plans in Mediterranean, Black Sea, Baltic and Northeast Atlantic) and with its G7 and G20 partners. The EU has also co-sponsored an initiative in the WTO that addresses plastic pollution and sustainable plastics trade. Plastics and its pollution permeate well beyond environmental policy considerations. The section below sets out its crosscutting relevance to diverse policies across the Union’s remit.

•Consistency with other Union policies

The proposed Recommendation is also consistent with other Union policies and legislation, such as on:

·health, specifically those policies and actions regarding materials and articles intended to come into contact with food,Union policies on the protection of the marine and coastal environment,

·port reception facilities,