AmCham EU

NEW - State of the Union 2020: Europe’s future is now by Susan Danger, CEO, AmCham EU

18 Sep 2020

All Committees

At the beginning of the year, Europe was abounding with optimism – a new year, a new decade, and a newly inaugurated Commission with a fresh, forward-looking mandate. This felt like the year that Europe could finally disengage from crisis mode, and look to the future. A smart, green, carbon neutral economy, with burgeoning industry and prospering society was within Europe’s grasp. Alas, nine months on, 2020 will go down in history as the annus horribilis of our time. But as the fallout of this latest historic crisis weighs heavily on Europe’s fragile societies, can President von der Leyen inject some much-needed vitality into the economic recovery?

NEW - The EU packaging value chain calls on the EU to protect the Single Market

18 Sep 2020

Environment

On Thursday, 17 September, AmCham EU co-signed a statement promoted by the Packaging Chain Forum calling for the need to protect the integrity of the EU Single Market. As the EU Green Deal and the 'Circular Economy Action Plan' start taking shape, we have seen a growing number of uncoordinated national initiatives which undermine the effectiveness of the Single Market and his operators. Signatories call on Member State to thoroughly transpose EU legislation in respect of Single Market legislation and demand that the Commission exercises its powers to ensure that EU rules are respected, including on packaging and packaging waste. Read it here.

The phasing out of primary batteries is incompatible with Europe’s goal for a carbon neutral economy

17 Sep 2020

Environment

On Tuesday, 15 September AmCham EU together with 13 other trade associations signed a statement contesting the restriction of primary batteries in framework of the current revision of the EU Batteries Directive. The signatories strongly support the ambitions of the Green Deal and maintain that the phasing out of primary batteries is incompatible with Europe’s goal for a carbon neutral economy. The statement also highlights that over the last few years, the environmental impact of primary batteries has been consistently decreasing and batteries are now effectively recycled if brought to a collection point. Overall, signatories argue that studies have shown that phasing our primary batteries would only have moderate effects on the amount of waste batteries (-25% by weight) but would bring negative impact on global warming. Read the statement here.