By Kate Abnett
BRUSSELS, Dec 8 (Reuters) – The European Commission has drafted proposals to cut back more EU environment laws, targeting requirements for industries to report on their pollution and waste, a draft EU document seen by Reuters showed.
The draft proposal, due to be published on Wednesday, is the latest part of the European Union’s “omnibus” effort to reduce bureaucracy for businesses and cut regulations that industries say hurt their profitability.
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
Europe’s environmental regulations are among the world’s strictest, covering such things as CO2 emissions, water quality and bans on harmful chemicals.
The Commission, the EU executive body, will propose ending an EU requirement for individual industrial facilities and livestock farms to have an “environmental management system” (EMS) detailing their actions to reduce pollution and waste, the draft document said.
Instead, a company will be allowed to do one slimmed-down EMS covering all its sites and this will scrap some existing EMS requirements – for example, to disclose the use of hazardous chemicals at facilities.
The proposal would also scrap a requirement for industrial facilities to have a “transformation plan” to align them with climate goals, and livestock and fish farms would no longer have to report their water and energy use.
Other parts of the proposal would simplify environmental assessments for industrial and energy projects.
“This simplification package… aims to ensure that the environmental goals of the European Union are achieved in a more efficient, less costly and smarter way,” the draft said.
A Commission spokesperson declined comment on the draft, which could change before publication. Proposals to change EU laws would require approval from EU countries and governments.
CUTTING ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS
Taken together, the plans could cut administrative costs by around 1 billion euros per year, the draft said.
Brussels has set a goal of cutting companies’ reporting burdens by 25% by 2029, and has faced calls from some businesses and governments to weaken green measures to help them compete with rivals in China and the United States.
The EU has already this year delayed its anti-deforestation law, exempted thousands of companies from sustainability reporting and due diligence rules, and weakened the green conditions attached to farming subsidies.
Environmental campaigners and some businesses and investors have accused Brussels of gutting laws which help manage risks from climate change and drive capital to the green transition.
The EU has maintained its core climate change targets, but faces pressure from governments to weaken some policies to reduce CO2 emissions – including the bloc’s 2035 ban on new CO2-emitting cars.
(Editing by Timothy Heritage)
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