A few weeks before the winter holiday break, the European Commission published its proposal for an Environmental Simplification package – also known as Environmental Omnibus package or Omnibus VIII. The proposal includes a set of measures aimed at simplifying environmental legislation, particularly in the area of reporting. In the scope of this simplification package are issues related to the Circular Economy (i.e., Extended Producer Responsibility, waste prevention, Substances of Concern), industrial permitting, industrial emissions and geospatial data.
As a result, the package is composed of six legislative proposals, bringing targeted legislative changes, as well as a Communication on “Simplifying for sustainable competitiveness”. For the e-commerce sector, the package constitutes an opportunity to lower compliance costs related with environmental reporting, such as in the field of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) – a policy area often flagged by producers and sellers as a pain point to enter the EU Single Market.
Content of the Environmental Omnibus package and relevance for e-commerce
The Communication on “Simplifying for sustainable competitiveness” provides a good overview of the actions taken by the Commission under the Environmental Omnibus package. The document defines the scope of the package, both as regards legislative and non-legislative initiatives, such as guidelines or implementing measures. Beyond the content of the Environmental Omnibus, the Commission stresses that further possible modifications of the Directives or Regulations in scope of the package “may be assessed, as appropriate, in the context of further stress-testing of EU environmental legislation and proposals announced in Commission work programme 2026” (e.g., the Circular Economy Act). Future simplification actions are also mentioned.
In terms of legislative proposals, the most relevant texts for the e-commerce environment are:
- The Proposal for a Regulation as regards simplification of some requirements and reduction of administrative burden, which notably changes the Batteries and Waste Batteries Regulation (e.g., amending producer definition to cover producers irrespective of the selling technique, including distance contract; simplification of redundant reporting with the removal of a clear deadline for the Commission to review battery waste management).
- The Proposal for a Regulation suspending the application of the rules on the appointment of an authorised representative for extended producer responsibility for batteries and waste batteries and packaging and packaging waste. This Proposal suspends the obligation for producers selling batteries and/or packaging in a Member States other than where they are established to appoint an Authorised Representative (AR) for Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). The suspensions will run until 1 January 2035. This measure is meant to alleviate burdens for products in the immediate term. The appointment of an AR becomes optional for producers established in the EU, while it remains an obligation in the terms of the current legislation for producers based in third countries. However, Member States can decide not to apply this obligation, in which case they “shall ensure traceability and enforcement […] through alternative means”.
- The Proposal for a Directive suspending the application of the rules on the appointment of authorised representatives for extended producer responsibility for waste, waste electrical and electronical equipment and single use plastic waste. This Proposal brings similar changes as the abovementioned Proposal for a Regulation, but for producers of textile, textile-related or footwear, electrical and electronical equipment and single use plastic products.
- The Proposal for a Directive as regards simplification of some requirements and reduction of administrative burden makes targeted amendments to different Directives, most notably the Waste Framework Directive. The targeted changes in this framework are the repeal of the SCIP database, harmonisation of EPR-related reporting frequency (at a maximum frequency of once every 12 months) across relevant legislation, and the establishment of indicators to measure waste prevention measure implementation.
Next steps
The legislative proposal has since been submitted to the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union for their consideration. Both co-legislators have already held their first discussion on parts of the package – with a discussion within the Council’s Antici Group on Simplification yesterday (19 January), and an extraordinary meeting of the EP ENVI Committee including an exchange of view with Commissioner Jessika Roswall on the same day. Ecommerce Europe will soon start to define its position on the package, portraying the interests of the wide e-commerce sector.