European Parliament Alerts from the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety committee

Highlights - Illegal trade in companion animals - Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety 26-04-2018 04:50 PM CEST On 26 April, the ENVI Committee considered the above draft motion for resolution. Companion animals trafficking has negative implications on public health, animal welfare and consumer protection. It has become a major source of income for organised international crime affecting the smooth functioning of the EU internal market through lost taxes and by creating unfair competition, particularly with the increase of pets' online sale, which is poorly regulated both nationally and under EU law. The draft motion for a resolution addresses a number of issues related to the illegal trafficking of companion animals, and calls for compatible systems for the means and methods of identification and registration of cats and dogs in databases in the Member States, an EU Action Plan to address the illegal trade in companion animals, improved law enforcement and tougher sanctions, and better cooperation, communication and training for customs and veterinary authorities. Source : © European Union, 2018 - EP Highlights - Exchange of views with Mr Vytenis Andriukaitis - Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety 26-04-2018 04:49 PM CEST On 26 April, the ENVI Committee held an exchange of views with Mr Vytenis Andriukaitis, Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, on the Commission's work in relation to the General Food Law, vaccination and digital healthcare. The Commissioner will present the proposal on transparency and sustainability of the EU risk assessment in the food chain that was adopted by the Commission on 11 April 2018. In addition, updates on the situation as regards e-health and vaccines will also be provided. Source : © European Union, 2018 - EP Highlights - Options to address the interface between chemical, product and waste legislation - Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety 26-04-2018 04:49 PM CEST On 26 April, the ENVI Committee considered the above draft motion for resolution which is part of a new set of measures adopted by the Commission to implement the Circular Economy Action Plan including a Communication aiming at promoting a broad discussion on how the major elements identified at the interface between chemicals, product and waste legislation can be addressed. The Communication's starting point is that recycling and re-use can be hampered by the presence of certain chemicals. The Commission identified four critical issues in the way the legislation on chemicals, products and waste work together and how these are hampering a circular economy development: insufficient information about substances of concern in products and waste, presence of substances of concern in recycled materials, uncertainties about how materials can cease to be waste, and difficulties in the application of EU waste classification methodologies, which impacts on the recyclability of materials. The draft motion for resolution stresses the importance of taking swift action in order to tackle the 'interface' problems and successively addresses the four critical issues and their impact on a circular economy development. Source : © European Union, 2018 - EP Highlights - Implementation of the Ecodesign Directive - Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety 26-04-2018 04:49 PM CEST On 25 April, the ENVI Committee voted on the above draft report. The directive integrates environmental aspects into product design with the aim of improving the environmental performance of the product throughout its whole life cycle. The Rapporteur stresses among others the need to fully exploit the potential offered by the current directive and to consider all the environmental aspects of the products in order to meet the new challenge which is the circular economy. She also recommends to strengthen the decision-making process, continue evolution from energy savings to resource efficiency, improve market surveillance, ensure consistency and convergence between ecodesign and horizontal regulations and to increase synergies with Green Public Procurement and the EU Ecolabel. She also underlines the need to provide the general public with clear information about the benefits of ecodesign, and encourages the Commission and the Member States to engage more actively with stakeholders to improve people's understanding of the legislation. Source : © European Union, 2018 - EP QUESTIONS? STAY CONNECTED  Contact Us |   This email was sent on behalf of the European Parliament · Bât. Altiero Spinelli · 60 rue Wiertz / Wiertzstraat 60 · B-1047 - Bruxelles/Brussels  · Belgium · Phone: +32(0)2 28 42111