Sala de imprensa 

Parliament’s committee in charge of public health questioned Commissioners Kyriakides and Lenarčič on how to best step up the EU’s response and coordination to COVID-19.

To protect human health and the environment, the Environment Committee objected on Tuesday to a Commission proposal allowing lead in recycled PVC.

The EU should launch a diplomatic drive for a worldwide ban on the animal testing of cosmetics before 2023, Environment Committee MEPs said on Tuesday.

Environment and Public Health MEPs will debate on Monday the Coronavirus outbreak with the Executive Director of the EU Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

In a debate with Frans Timmermans, the Environment Committee says the EU must remain firm on climate change and the timetable foreseen for the Climate Law.

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

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.

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.

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.

Environment and Public Health Committee MEPs will discuss the current Coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak with the European Commission on Thursday morning.

On Wednesday, climate activist Greta Thunberg spoke at a meeting in the Parliament’s Environment Committee.

Further reducing use of pesticides, more funds for research and better monitoring are urgently needed to save the EU’s bees, says the Environment Committee.

In a hearing today, MEPs demanded clarity on vaccine deliveries and insisted that pharmaceutical companies honour their contracts.

MEPs debated ways to secure a quick and safe supply of COVID-19 vaccines on Tuesday, with representatives of pharmaceutical companies, research , and civil society.

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.

The EU needs clear policy objectives to achieve a carbon-neutral, environmentally sustainable, toxic-free and fully circular economy by 2050 at the latest, say MEPs.

On the eve of World Cancer Day, Parliament’s Special Committee on Beating Cancer (BECA) backs EU wide effort to beat cancer.

To raise global climate ambition and prevent ‘carbon leakage’, the EU must place a carbon price on imports from less climate-ambitious countries, say Environment MEPs.

A twelve-strong delegation of MEPs will take part in UN (COP22) climate talks (COP22) in Marrakesh from Monday to Friday. Following the European Parliament’s ratification and the entry into force of the 2015 Paris agreement, these will focus on how to finance and share the efforts needed to keep climate warming well below 2 degrees compared to pre-industrial levels.

The upcoming new EU chemicals strategy for sustainability must better protect our health and the environment, says Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee.