COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union concerning the position of the Council on the adoption of a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 94/62/EC as regards the consumption of lightweight plastic carrier bags
Date: 2015-03-10
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: biodegradability, environmental impact, packaging product, plastics, protection of animal life, protection of plant life, public awareness campaign, waste recycling

EUROPEAN 
COMMISSION 

Brussels, 10.3.2015  
COM(2015) 124 final 

2013/0371 (COD) 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union 

concerning the 

position of the Council on the adoption of a Directive of the European Parliament and of 
the Council amending Directive 94/62/EC as regards the consumption of lightweight 
plastic carrier bags 

(Text with EEA relevance) 

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2013/0371 (COD) 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union 

concerning the 

position of the Council on the adoption of a Directive of the European Parliament and of 
the Council amending Directive 94/62/EC as regards the consumption of lightweight 
plastic carrier bags 

(Text with EEA relevance) 

1. 

BACKGROUND 

Date of transmission of the proposal to the European Parliament and to 
the Council (document COM(2013)0761 final –2013/0371 (COD): 

4 November 2013

Date of the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee: 

26 February 2014 

Date of the opinion of the Committee of the Regions: 

2- April 2014 

Date of the opinion of the European Parliament, first reading: 

16 April 2014 

Date of adoption of the position of the Council: 

2 March 2015. 

2. 

OBJECTIVE OF THE COMMISSION PROPOSAL 

The objective of the proposal is to reduce the consumption of lightweight plastic carrier bags, 
thus to reduce littering of these bags and to prevent them from ending up in the environment, 
where they fall apart in ever smaller pieces and finally remain for a very long time in the form 
of  micro-plastics,  causing  considerable  damage  to  the  fauna  and  flora,  especially  in  the 
aquatic environment. 

3. 

COMMENTS ON THE POSITION OF THE COUNCIL 

The  position  of  the  Council  reflects  the  political  agreement  reached  between  the  European 
Parliament and the Council on 17 November 2014 and it supports the main objective of the 
Commission  proposal  to  reduce  the  consumption  of  lightweight  plastic  carrier  bags,  while 
deviating on some aspects and introducing additional elements. 

The Commission's proposal obliges Member States to take measures, while leaving them free 
to decide about precise implementation methods, in line with the subsidiarity principle. The 
compromise  reached  between  the  Council  and  the  European  Parliament  obliges  Member 
States  to  include  in  these  measures,  as  a  minimum, either a  national  reduction  target and/or 
mandatory  pricing.  In  case  a  national  reduction  target  would  be  implemented,  this  is 
predefined in the compromise. 

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The Commission did not consider it appropriate to propose mandatory pricing or a quantified 
reduction target at the time of presenting the proposal given difficulties with the availability 
of data and common measurement methods and because it considered that Member States are 
best placed to choose the measures to reduce the consumption of plastic carrier bags. 

Even though the Commission considers these provisions too prescriptive, it can, in a spirit of 
compromise, accept them as part of the package. 

The Commission can accept additional elements introduced in the position of the Council, in 
particular: 

•  The  obligation  for  the  Commission  and  Member  States  to  actively  encourage  public 
information  and  awareness  campaigns,  at  least  during  the  first  year  after  the  date  of 
transposition of the Directive. 

•  The possibility for Member States to implement the measures pursuant to the Directive by 
means of agreements between competent authorities and the economic sectors concerned. 
This possibility is already foreseen in Article 22 of the Packaging and Packaging Waste 
Directive for collection and return and recovery systems. 

•  The obligation for the Commission to develop and adopt in an implementing act, within 
12 months of entry into force of the Directive, a methodology and reporting format for the 
calculation of the annual consumption per person of lightweight plastic carrier bags. The 
Commission recognizes the need of availability of reliable data and considers acceptable 
in principle this obligation, even if it increases administrative burden for Member States 
and  economic  operators.  However,  the  development  and  formal  adoption  of  an 
implementing act may require more than the foreseen 12 months. 

Even  though  the  Commission  is  of  the  opinion  that  a  number  of  elements  go  beyond  the 
objective of its proposal and should therefore be addressed in a broader context, it can, as a 
compromise,  accept  the  following  additional  elements  introduced  in  the  position  of  the 
Council, in particular: 

•  The obligation for the Commission to develop and adopt in an implementing act, within 
24  months  of  entry  into  force  of  the  Directive,  a  label  for  biodegradable  and  home-
compostable plastic carrier bags.  

•  The  obligation  for  the  Commission  to  assess  the  life  cycle  impacts  of  different 
possibilities  to  reduce  very  lightweight  plastic carrier  bags  and  present,  if  appropriate,  a 
legislative proposal within 24 months of entry into force of the Directive.  

•  The  obligation  for  the  Commission  to  examine  the  impact  of  the  use  of  oxo-degradable 
plastic  carrier  bags,  present  a  report  to  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  and,  if 
appropriate,  present  a  legislative  proposal  on  the  issue  within  24  months  of  entry  into 
force of the Directive. 

4. 

CONCLUSION 

Even though the Commission regrets that the agreement between the co-legislators includes 
certain elements that are outside the scope of the Commission's proposal and are not in line 
with  the  principles  of  better  regulation,  it  welcomes  the  fact  that  the  co-legislators  have 
reached an agreement on its proposal. 

The Commission can endorse, in a spirit of compromise, the position adopted by the Council 
so that the European Parliament can adopt the final text in second reading. 

However, the Commission considers it necessary to make the following declaration: 

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The Commission recalls the objectives of its proposal of 4 November 2013 to limit 
negative  impacts  on  the  environment  from  plastic  bags  consumption  by  reducing 
consumption  and  thereby  reducing  littering  of  these  bags.  The  Commission,  while 
welcoming agreement on its proposal, notes that the final text agreed between the co-
legislators includes certain elements that are outside the scope of the Commission's 
proposal and are not in line with the principles of better regulation. This could pose 
problems  for  the  future  application  of  the  Directive,  for  Member  States,  the 
Commission, consumers and economic operators. 

The issues that raise concerns are the following: 

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the adoption of a label for biodegradable and home-compostable bags without 
the impacts thereof being assessed; 

additional  administrative burden for  Member States and economic  operators, 
including new reporting obligations and labelling requirements; 

provisions  which  could  better  be  addressed  in  the  context  of  the  follow-up  to 
the Commission Green Paper on plastic waste, such as the report on the use of 
"oxo-degradable" plastic bags;  

the possibility to vary the measures taken towards plastic bags based on their 
environmental impact or other properties could be problematic as regards the 
principles  of  non-discrimination  and  proportionality  and  those  of  the  Single 
Market; 

the  possibility  for  setting  consumption  objectives  at  a  level  predetermined  by 
the Directive, in the absence of relevant statistical data for all Member States; 

too  short  deadlines  for  development  and  adoption  in  implementing  acts  of  a 
methodology for reporting on consumption of lightweight plastic carrier bags 
and of labels for biodegradable plastic carrier bags. 

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