| Consultation: | Federal Committee Athens - Fall 2026 |
|---|---|
| Agenda item: | 2. Political Commission 2 |
| Proposer: | Alberto Gasparato (JEF Europe | PC 2) |
| Status: | Modified |
| Submitted: | 10/13/2026, 21:29 |
Resolution submitted by JEF Norway / PC2 – Internal European Affairs
Adopted by the Federal Committee in London on 23 March 2019. Re-adopted and
amended by the Federal Committee in Athens, Greece on 31 October 2026.
Europe’s consumption of energy and natural resources remains high. Recent energy
and supply chain shocks underlined the vulnerabilities Europe is facing without
a resilient economy, aware of the benefits of the circular economy. Every year,
the EU’s inhabitants consume resources equivalent to that of the production of
two and a half Earths. Only about 12 percent of our resources consumed is used
again. Furthermore, the EU is highly dependent on imports of raw materials.
However, the extraction of raw materials accounts for a substantial amount of
greenhouse gas emissions as well as degrading vulnerable natural landscapes. In
order to reduce our per capita footprint, mitigate climate change, and preserve
resilient ecosystems, Europe must step up its transition to a truly Circular
Economy, reducing waste, increasing resource productivity and regenerating
natural resources.
JEF Europe,
Reaffirming the political, legal and ethical commitments towards climate
neutrality, wherein the circular economy, domestically and globally, plays
an important role in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction;
Taking note of initiatives such as the Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP)
and the Circular Economy Act at the core;
Underlining actions such as the Sustainable Products Initiative, the Right
to Repair Directive, the Ecodesign Directive, Industrial Emissions
Directive, Common Chargers Directive, Batteries Regulation, Green Claims
Directive proposal, and multiple initiatives supporting clean energy and
clean technologies;
Welcoming the EU’s increased ambitions for European energy efficiency and
emissions-reduction goals, in line with the Paris Agreement of limiting
warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius;
Expressing concern about the failure of the EU to disconnect from non-
renewable energy sources following disconnecting from energy imported from
Russia;
Deeply concerned about the degree of wastefulness in the European economy,
with only 38% of waste in the EU recycled, and noting the differences
among Member States in waste recycling rates;
Worried that several Member States registered regresses between 2010 and
2024 in their circularity rates;
Recalls the recommendations of the European Court of Auditors to the
Commission on improving its monitoring of Member States’ transition to a
circular economy and analysing reasons for low take up of EU funding for
circular design and greater incentivisation considerations;
Concerned by environmental and health damaging business practices on
transnational waste shipping;
At the same time acknowledging that shifting toward a circular economy
model involves a deep-going change of mentality and a radical departure
from current incentivisation where going circular remains, for the time
being, widely unprofitable;
Recognising that a transition necessitates more than mere voluntary
schemes and industry initiatives, demanding coordinated practices across
businesses, governments, civil society and national boundaries;
Underlining the significant benefits associated with the Circular Economy,
such as: reduced emissions, diminished pollutants in atmosphere, air, and
water, lower resource extraction rates and dependency on imports, job
creation within re-use, recycling and regeneration businesses, and
limiting the impact on environmental and human health and safety;
Highlighting that the transition to a more circular model of our economy
has social consequences, and that actions need to be taken to ensure a
fair transition for citizens, workers and regions;
Underlining that the circular economy should be a driver for the
development of the European social pillar and European solidarity, both as
a whole and for marginalised regions and segments of the population in
particular;
Recalling JEF Europe’s resolutions “Environment does not stop at borders”;
“Towards a green, globally competitive and digital European industry” and
“A federal strategy for sustainable, safe and healthy food for all
Europeans”;
JEF Europe, therefore,
Calls for the EU to address the key barriers to transitioning to a truly
Circular Economy in Europe, and effectively implement the Circular Economy
Act;
Calls for an EU-wide tax reform that makes it beneficial to reuse,
recycle, regenerate and use secondary raw materials, and that will support
European projects for a circular economy, and stresses the need for
effective application of the polluter-pays principle;
Calls for Member-States to establish cross-border refund schemes;
Requests further market-funded investments into transitioning toward a
circular economy, using the experience from Next Generation EU;
Calls for the integration of the principles of cohesion and just
transition into all circular economy initiatives, so that the shift
benefits workers, communities, and regions equitably;
Insists that the EU must empower consumers to recirculate their products,
fully implementing the “right to repair” and addressing shortcomings of
the current regulatory framework, so the EU Ecolabel becomes the default
sustainability branding throughout the EU, and that information campaigns
towards consumers and producers are intensified;
Demands the mainstreaming of circular economy policies in free trade
agreements, supporting bilateral and regional trade of secondary raw
materials, and promoting EU-wide recycling of materials through
harmonisation of regulation;
Further calls for the EU to take stronger actions to reduce municipal
waste and local impacts from waste and landfill pollution, mandating a
standardised model for separate waste collection and setting EU-level
waste reduction targets, including minimising the presence of persistent
organic pollutants in material used in circular economy;
Invites the EU to propose a coordinated waste management action plan in
the EU, the lack of which complicates the long-term planning of material
streams, trade and recycling across borders;
Calls on the Commission to implement the ‘Renovation Wave’ initiative
fully in line with the circular economy principles, while promoting the
reuse of construction and demolition waste within the building sector
through modular building design, deep renovations, on-site production, and
reusability of all materials;
Asking for the effective introduction of the Digital Product Passports
which provide information about the ecological footprint of each product,
enabling seamless trade and tracking of sustainable secondary materials
across borders;
Calls for effective implementation of the revised waste shipment
regulation given the negative consequences on climate and environment, on
human health, and on EU solidarity of transborder waste shipping without
proper accountability and traceability of the illicit and harmful business
operations for waste management and disposal;
Calls for the EU to effectively and in a transparent way follow up the
progress of a circular economy in line with the Circular Economy
Monitoring Framework, and in particular monitoring the progress made on
the Member States’ binding targets for circularity and recycling rates as
well as making binding the ambitions in the updated Sustainable Products
Regulation and the framework for ecodesign requirements;
Encourages the European Union to support the transition to a circular
economy in the candidate countries by sharing the European best practices
and providing technical assistance, according to their own individual
needs.
