On March 27, 2019 the European Parliament approved - by a large majority with 560 votes in favour, 35 not in favour and 28 abstentions - the final text of the draft Directive on the reduction of certain types of plastics without any further change to the text.
The ultimate edition was agreed during the negotiations between the Parliament and Council before Christmas last year and then approved by the Environment Committee earlier in January 2019.
The process that brought to the final approval of the legislative text is not without problems, as the penalties that plastic products destined for disposable goods will encounter will have impacts on employment and may cause job losses.
EuPC, the European Association of processors, while acknowledging the need for a clean environment and seas, still considers this legislative act and the text flawed, both on merit and on the procedural steps to hurry the overall legislative process.
Following the approval of the text of the Directive by the European Parliament, the Council will adopt the text without debate at a future meeting. As originally planned and recommended by the Commission, the publication in the Official Journal of the EU is now expected in April/May 2019, just in time before the European elections.