26 Amendments of Robert HAJŠEL related to 2020/2077(INI)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Recital -A a (new)
Recital -A a (new)
- Aa. whereas the principles of circular economy should be the core element of any European and national industrial policy as well as of Member States national Recovery and Resilience Plans in the framework of the Recovery and Resilience Facility;
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Recital -A b (new)
Recital -A b (new)
- Ab. whereas almost a quarter of SMEs in Europe already enable the transition towards more sustainable business models but, on the other hand, a third of them report that they face complex administrative and legal procedures when trying to make their business more resource-efficient;
Amendment 3 #
-Ac. whereas the Communication from the Commission acknowledges the pioneering role of social economy enterprises in the creation of jobs linked to the circular economy;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Recital -A d (new)
Recital -A d (new)
-Ad. whereas a circular economy has proven to be essential during the Covid-19 pandemic, in particular in sectors such as food and pharmaceutical packaging, waste collection and treatment;
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the Commission’s intention to review Directive 2009/125/EC; emphasizing an important role that it can play in green recovery and can represent the key element of any post-COVID recovery plans; stresses that broadening its scope should not lead to any watering down of the results achieved in the field of energy efficiency; and material efficiency to decrease dependence on imports and thereby improve resilience of European economy to global crises.
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Considers that placing sustainable products on the internal market should be the norm and calls for a horizontal Sustainable Product Framework Directive setting mandatory minimum requirements for durability, interoperability, reparability, upgradability, reusability and recyclability and addressing the presence of hazardous chemicals, for all products alongside further product- specific requirements;
Amendment 28 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses that standardisation is key to implementing a sustainable product policy by providing reliable definitions, metrics and tests for characteristics such as durability and reparability, and in setting minimum product design market requirements; insists that standards be developed in a timely manner and in line with real-use conditions; highlights the need to reform the standardisation process to ensure more inclusive and transparent participation of all relevant stakeholders and to consistently mainstream sustainability in standard- setting;
Amendment 47 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Welcomes the Commission’s intention to empower consumers to further engage in sustainable consumption practices; calls for clear and easily understandable mandatory labelling on product durability and reparability, and the development of a repair score, in addition to minimum information requirements; asks for both the legal guarantee rights and the reversed burden of proof rules to be extended based on the lifespan of products, the introduction of direct producer liability, and for legislative measures to ban practices resulting in premature obsolescence by adding to the list in the Annex I to the Directive 2005/29/EC;
Amendment 53 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Calls on the Commission to encourage and raise awareness of new sustainable business models based on changing behaviours to renting and sharing goods and services, while guaranteeing a high level of consumer and worker protection;
Amendment 55 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3b. Insists on the establishment of a universal charging system in order to reduce production volumes and electronic waste;
Amendment 59 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Supports the establishment of an EU-wide ‘right to repair’; calls, in this context, for measures to provide unrestricted and free access to repair and maintenance information and to spare parts to all market participants, calls for ensuring that the price of spare parts is reasonable in relation to the price of the whole product and that spare parts are priced the same way for independent and authorised repairers as well as for the consumers; to define a mandatory minimum period of time for the availability of spare parts and/or updates, a maximum time-limit for their delivery, and for repair to be given priorityencouraged under the legal guarantee regime; calls for establishing an obligation to provide consumers with a replacement good, if the repair takes longer than 30 days or if it concerns an essential good;
Amendment 63 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Underlines that research into materials, processes, technologies and products, as well as into their industrial scale-up, can provide European companies with a worldwide competitive advantage; believes that shortening a number of value chains would make European industrial ecosystems more resilient, competitive and profitable, as well as promote the EU’s strategic autonomy; developing synergy between sectors for an effective EU circular industry; that supports industrial reconstruction and just transformation towards climate-neutrality objectives.
Amendment 69 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Calls for introducing usage meters on categories of goods to improve consumer information and facilitate reuse;
Amendment 73 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Believes that research priorities in the field of circular economy should mainly look at carbon neutral and zero- carbon technologies;
Amendment 89 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Calls for reinforcing the possibility of recourse for consumers and environmental organisations in the event of a breach of information obligations under Directive 2005/29/EC in order to better implement market surveillance mechanisms;
Amendment 92 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6b. Proposes the development of clear guidelines and standards for green claims and commitments that translate into ecolabels; looks forward to the planned legislative proposal on substantiating green claims; considers that by providing the consumers with transparency and guidance through accurate and accountable information and ecolabeling, consumers will have increased trust in products and markets, which will ultimately lead to sustainable consumption;
Amendment 103 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Calls for a revision of EU public procurement legislationStresses the potential of green and social public procurement in the transition to a sustainable economy; welcomes in this respect the commitments of the Commission to propose further legislation and guidance introducing mandatory minimum targets, through defining a certain percentage for procurement based on environmental, social and ethical criteria, and introducing a hierarchy of award criteria, together with sector-specific targets. , as well as supporting reusable, refurbished and remanufactured products;
Amendment 108 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Calls on the Member States to swiftly adopt the principles for a definitive VAT regime, including the proposal for a modernised VAT rate regime, that would allow to lower VAT rates on recycled, reused or refurbished goods and on repair services to make it convenient and financially attractive to consumers, calls on the Member States to consider such measures once the new regime is adopted;
Amendment 108 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Supports the European Commission’s initiative to ensure that the EIT’s Knowledge and Innovation Communities will be more open to SMEs and increase their opportunity to participate in local innovation ecosystem to the benefit of digital and green transition;
Amendment 113 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
7b. Calls for the Commission and national authorities to assist and support financially local and regional authorities, companies, SMEs, micro-enterprises as well as self-employed, and associations in conducting consumer awareness campaigns on extending the lifespans of products, in particular by providing reliable and clear information, advice and services of maintenance, repair, re-use, etc.;
Amendment 116 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 c (new)
Paragraph 7 c (new)
7c. Calls for a ban on the destruction of unsold goods in working order so that they can be reused instead, and for specific targets to be set for reuse; emphasises that priority in accessing waste yards should be given to new sustainable business models;
Amendment 117 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Is of the opinion that the transition towards a digital economy in all sectors can reduce their environmental footprint, while also boosting the green transition; points out that measures are nevertheless needed to deal with the short- and medium- term costs of the transitions and to make them just; and more inclusive; highlights the importance of stakeholders, including civil society and community representatives.
Amendment 121 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Stresses that construction is among the least automated and digitized sectors and the most resource-intensive businesses in the European Union. The use of innovative and future-oriented technologies at a construction site would increase the degree of digitisation of the sector while increasing resources efficiency. Similarly, the adoption of digital solution in built environment would allow better energy performance of buildings;
Amendment 124 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5b. Also believes that the use of sustainable circular bio-based products and systems in the construction and renovation sectors can help achieving the Union's environmental objectives through the development of a regulatory framework for recognition of carbon removals as well as through the elaboration of Green Public Procurement binding rules to enable users to choose sustainable and climate friendly materials and secondary raw material;
Amendment 125 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 c (new)
Paragraph 5 c (new)
5c. Recalls that the “energy efficiency first” principle should always apply when evaluating different solutions and applications;
Amendment 144 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Calls on the Commission to invest in connectivity and digital infrastructures, promoting solutions that contribute to a lower carbon footprint and reduced use of natural resources and materials, and that guarantee the sustainability of the manufacturing life cycle and the extension of product life cycle.