At the end of last year, VERE submitted its statement on the EU initiative “Simplification of administrative burdens in environmental legislation”, which is very important for our members.
VERE is committed to genuine simplification and harmonisation of administrative requirements in environmental law. The initiative to reduce bureaucratic hurdles is therefore expressly welcomed, but VERE warns against hasty centralisation at EU level.
An EU one-stop shop for extended producer responsibility sounds promising, but it harbours considerable technical, organisational and financial risks: different national systems and data formats, complex rights management, data protection issues, high costs and, above all, lengthy and error-prone implementation could lead to more bureaucracy and competitive disadvantages – especially for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Instead, VERE advocates gradual harmonisation with uniform data standards and interfaces in order to create noticeable relief in the short term. Digitisation and standardisation should be carried out methodically so that companies can adapt at a healthy pace. The central concern is that simplifications should not come at the expense of environmental and sustainability goals.
VERE is available to the European Commission as a constructive partner and recommends carefully assessing the actual needs of companies before making far-reaching decisions.
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