Debate: Towards a more sustainable single market for business and consumers
Date: MONDAY, 23 NOVEMBER 2020
Speaker: Didier Reynders
Language: FR

Je voudrais tout d’abord évidemment remercier le rapporteur, Monsieur David Cormand, et le féliciter pour son rapport pour un marché unique durable. La Commission européenne se félicite de l’initiative de la commission IMCO, ainsi que de l’engagement du Parlement européen pour le développement durable. Nous partageons l’ambition d’une action politique forte et multidimensionnelle au sein de l’Union, afin de faciliter davantage la transition vers une économie plus durable, plus efficace dans l’utilisation des ressources et plus circulaire. The Commission set its out strategy in the Circular Economy Action Plan adopted earlier this year. Like Mr Cormand’s report, the Circular Economy Action Plan recognises that the transition will require measures both on the supply and the demand side. We agree that a number of the changes needed, such as better rules for the lifespan and reparability of products, will require product-specific and sectoral approaches. Evidence shows that 80% of environmental impacts are determined at the design phase of a product, and that is exactly where the Sustainable Products Initiative will intervene. It will set out sustainability principles and specific requirements linked to environmental and social aspects. In this context, the digital product passport could combine unique product identification with data collected by different actors in the value chain. This could provide better information to economic operators, market surveillance authorities and the general public. It could enable more sustainable products, as well as the emergence of new sustainable business opportunities, strengthening the competitiveness of EU industry and the resilience of the EU economy. Various measures, both horizontal and product-specific, should also contribute to establishing an effective right to repair. We also want to ensure high environmental performance for all products placed on the EU market. Work is ongoing within the framework of the Ecodesign Directive, with the focus on durability, reparability and efficiency of products. This horizontal initiative, together with some sector-specific proposals, such as the Circular Electronics Initiative, will respond to a number of points included in your report. The New Consumer Agenda, which we will discuss later this evening, also provides for action on the demand side. It will include an ambitious programme of empowering consumers’ participation in the green transition. In 2021, a legislative initiative will aim to ensure better information for consumers. It will help them choose products, not only according to the price, but also based on reliable and clear information about the products’ durability, availability of spare parts and accessibility of repair services. The Commission will, at the same time, address certain commercial practices which undermine consumers’ trust – notably early obsolescence, as well as greenwashing. In parallel, the Commission will propose rules for the substantiation of green claims, to further reinforce the credibility of consumer information. Public procurement plays an important part as well as the demand side. The Commission is working on criteria and targets in sectoral legislation for minimum mandatory green public procurement, as well as comprehensive guidance on public investment into sustainable infrastructure projects. For green public procurement to be widely used, the environmental impact of products and services needs to be standardised and must use comparable assessment methodology. Several points in the report also touch upon the Sale of Goods Directive. This important directive will start to apply as of 1 January 2022. As announced in the New Consumer Agenda, the Commission will use the future review of the Directive to explore how it could contribute to sustainability goals, including by taking into account a number of issues raised in Mr Cormand’s report. Et je voudrais assurer encore, M. Cormand, que, comme je viens de l’évoquer, nous allons réagir à toute une série de points qui font l’objet des propositions qu’il a énumérées tout à l’heure. Nous verrons jusqu’où nous pourrons aller dans l’ensemble de ces remarques, mais je vous remercie à nouveau de votre attention. I am of course looking forward to hearing your remarks and possible questions and proposals.