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The share of waste to be recycled should be raised to 70% by 2030, from 44% today, while landfilling, which has a big environmental impact, should be limited to 5%, said Environment Committee MEPs on Tuesday, as they amended the draft EU “waste package” legislation. They also advocate a 50% reduction in food waste by 2030.

Environment MEPs advocate a full and immediate EU-wide ban on ivory and rhinoceros horn trade, and call for common sanctions at EU level against wildlife trafficking, in a resolution voted on Thursday. Wildlife trafficking is worth an estimated €20 billion annually. It has grown in recent years, becoming one of the biggest and most profitable forms of organised cross-border crime.

Airlines will remain exempt from paying for CO2 emissions from intercontinental flights until December 2023.

Draft plans to tighten up official controls from farm to fork were informally agreed by food safety MEPs and the Dutch Presidency of the Council on Wednesday. It aims to guarantee that the food consumers buy and eat in Europe is safe and wholesome, hence improving consumer’s health and preventing food crises.

European Parliament's President Antonio Tajani reacted to the announcement by U.S. President Donald J. Trump to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on climate change, on Thursday.

Plans for more ambitious national caps on emissions of key pollutants by 2030, including NOx, particulates and sulphur dioxide, already informally agreed with the Dutch presidency of the Council, received the support of the Health committee on Tuesday. Air pollution causes about 400,000 premature deaths in the EU per year. The agreement now needs to be endorsed by the Environment Committee and Parliament as a whole.

An agreement on draft legislation to make tobacco products less attractive to young people was reached on Wednesday by MEPs and the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of Ministers. This legislation would require all packs to carry a health warning covering 65% of their surface.E-cigarettes should be regulated, either as medicinal products, if they are presented as having curative or preventive properties, or as tobacco products..

A draft law to reform the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), by reducing the surplus of carbon credits available for trading into order to support the price, was informally agreed upon by MEPs and the Latvian Presidency of the EU Council of Ministers on Tuesday. The surplus reserve would start operating in 2019.

Plans to counter water scarcity by facilitating the reuse of treated wastewater for agricultural irrigation were informally agreed upon by Parliament and Council on Monday night.

A draft law to cap the production of traditional biofuels and accelerate the shift to alternative sources, such as seaweed and waste, was approved by the Environment Committee on Tuesday. It aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that result from the growing use of agricultural land to produce biofuel crops.

Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

New EU ambitious targets for renewables, including self-consumption and biofuels, were agreed by Parliament and Council negotiators on Wednesday night.

Political groups discussed the way forward on climate cooperation with the Governor of California, who earlier also met with Environment and EU-US delegation MEPs, on Wednesday.

Waning public confidence in vaccination is a major challenge and has already brought about health consequences, Health Committee MEPs said on Tuesday.

The growing threat posed by antibiotic-resistant bacteria can be tackled through a “One Health” approach, MEPs said on Wednesday.

Environment MEPs put forward a number of possible measures to cut the EU 88 million tonnes per year food waste by half by 2030 on Tuesday. MEPs called on the European Commission to lift existing restrictions on food donations and stressed a solution is needed for the confusion created for many consumers by the “best before” and “use by” labelling.

The share of municipal waste to be recycled will rise to 55% by 2025, from 44% today, under legislation on circular economy backed by Environment MEPs on Tuesday.

Draft rules on tobacco additives and labelling, and the likely effect of updating the EU Tobacco Products Directive on public health, business and tax revenues were examined in an Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee debate with Ireland's Health Minister James Reilly and Health and Consumer Policy Commissioner Tonio Borg on Monday.

Draft legislation agreed with the Council of Ministers to make tobacco products less attractive to young people was endorsed by Public Health Committee MEPs on Wednesday. This legislation, updating the EU Tobacco Directive, would require all packs to carry a health warning covering 65% of their surface. E-cigarettes would be regulated, either as medicinal products, if they make quit claims, or as tobacco products.

The EU should commit to net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050 at the UN Conference and step up its emissions’ reduction ambition for 2030, said the Environment Committee on Wednesday.