The undersigned industry associations, including EXPRA, have expressed their strong support for the European Union’s ambitions for a circular economy. They stress that the upcoming New Circular Economy Act (CEA) must be grounded in an internal market legal basis (Article 114 TFEU) to ensure harmonized rules and a functioning European market for secondary raw materials.
Europe’s current waste management landscape remains highly fragmented, with nearly half of EU countries still landfilling over 30% of municipal waste and only a handful expected to meet 2025 recycling targets. The recent revision of the Waste Framework Directive (WFD) has not resolved structural inefficiencies, leaving the Single Market for secondary raw materials underdeveloped and EU circular economy objectives at risk.
The associations emphasize that the New CEA represents a unique opportunity to level the playing field: ensuring all Member States, not just front-runners, achieve their circular economy goals. They caution against weakening the Act under the guise of national flexibility or shifting the legal basis to Article 192 TFEU, which could create legal uncertainty and slow the EU’s transition to a circular and climate-neutral economy.
With broad stakeholder support across Europe, the associations urge the European Commission and co-legislators to uphold the internal market legal basis in its entirety, ensuring ambitious, harmonized, and enforceable rules across the EU.