Ausschuss für Umweltfragen, öffentliche Gesundheit und Lebensmittelsicherheit

During the joint hearing entitled "How to increase the capacity of COVID-19 vaccine production and improve delivery" ENVI and ITRE Members debated with CEOs of leading pharmaceutical companies, including AstraZeneca, Moderna, CureVac and Novavax, ways of removing obstacles to faster commercialisation, manufacturing and distribution of vaccines. It was also an opportunity to remind companies of their duty to honour the deliveries of vaccines pursuant the contracts they had signed with the EU.

On 25 February 2021, from 14:15 to 15:45, the PETI and ENVI Committees held a joint public hearing on plastics and waste management in the circular economy. EU Citizens are very concerned with the impact of plastics on the environment and in particular with the end-of-life stage of plastics.

On Thursday 25 February, ENVI voted on the provisional agreement reached with the Council on 8 February on a reform of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM).

The European Parliamentary Week 2021 took place on 22 February with parliamentarians from all over the EU, candidate and observer countries discussing economic, budgetary, environmental and social matters, especially considering the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on EU economies. The European Parliamentary Week consists of the European Semester Conference and the Interparliamentary Conference on Stability, Economic Coordination and Governance in the European Union.

The ENVI and AGRI Committees co-organized a public hearing on 4 February about the Farm to Fork Strategy.

On 4 and 5 February ENVI adopted its own-initiative report entitled ‘Towards a WTO-compatible EU carbon border adjustment mechanism’, which addresses the creation of a carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) as proposed by the European Commission in its Communication on the European Green Deal.

On Wednesday 27 January, ENVI adopted an own-initiative report on the New Circular Economy Action Plan (NCEAP) by 66 votes in favour, 6 against and 7 abstentions. Published by the Commission on 11 March 2020, the plan aims at accelerating the systemic and transformational change required by the European Green Deal’s ambitions.

On 26 January, ENVI Members had an exchange of views with Emer Cooke, Executive Director of EMA, on the agency's activities, in particular on the follow-up of the vaccines authorisation process since December and on the Agency’s work in response to COVID-19 in general.