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A revision of the Detergents Regulation is expected to be published in the first quarter of 2023. The revision of the regulation is aimed at ensuring consistency with other EU chemicals legislation, adapting the legislation to technical progress as well as reducing administrative burdens. In the context of the EU chemicals strategy for sustainability, provisions may be introduced or reinforced to take account of the combination effects of chemicals and to extend the generic approach to risk management ...

The EU has the world's largest carbon-pricing system, the emissions trading system (ETS). Emissions pricing can encourage industrial decarbonisation, but it also risks carbon leakage, whereby EU companies move their production abroad. To date, the EU has mitigated this risk through free allocations to certain industries, but with rising climate ambition and higher carbon prices, the Commission is now seeking to phase out free allocations. A new carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) would also ...

On 14 July 2021, the European Commission presented a package of proposals to equip the EU's climate, energy, land use, transport and taxation policies to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 % by 2030, compared with 1990 levels – the 'fit for 55' package. The package includes a proposal to revise the 2014 directive on alternative fuels infrastructure and turn it into a regulation. In the draft regulation, the Commission proposes binding targets for electric vehicle charging points and ...

Public financing of enterprises, which has been on the rise globally, can have a distortive effect on competitive markets. In response to this trend, in May 2021 the European Commission published a proposal for a regulation to tackle foreign subsidies with a distortive effect on the EU single market. It would enable the Commission to investigate subsidies granted by non-EU public authorities to companies operating on the single market, and to apply countervailing measures, should these subsidies ...

The initiative aims to harmonise certain substantive rules on insolvency proceedings across the EU. The IA examines the nature and scale of the problems and who they affect. It establishes a clear intervention logic, from the problems and their drivers to the initiative's objectives and options. The IA identifies only two options, which are cumulative. It is questionable whether such options qualify as alternative options, as required in the BRGs. This range of options is very limited, and some policy ...

The effective management of the EU's external borders is a prerequisite for creating the EU area of freedom, security and justice. In response to an unprecedented influx of refugees and immigrants into Europe in the 2015-2016 period, the EU took steps to strengthen the management of its external borders, and to reform the common European asylum system. Several major challenges have affected the EU's external borders in recent years. The COVID-19 pandemic pushed Member States to adopt extraordinary ...

The recent launches of artificial intelligence (AI) tools capable of generating direct textual answers to questions, notably the chatbot ChatGPT, and the development of general-purpose AI technologies, are expected to revolutionise the application of AI in society and the economy. New AI tools in general offer massive potential for developments in industry, agriculture, health, education and other areas. However, many scientists and politicians are calling for the establishment of a legal and ethical ...

The impact assessment's strong points include a well-substantiated problem definition, an evidence base that appears to be recent and relevant, and a broad stakeholder consultation, the results of which were put to good use. However, the report's weak points limit its potential to inform decision-making clearly. Firstly, there appears to be a mismatch between the problem description, the objectives and the options of the IA. Secondly, the IA does not explain in sufficient detail why no alternatives ...

The impact assessment is informed by the findings of the European Commission's fitness check of the water directives, in line with the Better Regulation Guidelines' 'evaluate first' principle. The IA's strong points include a dynamic baseline that takes into account the likely changes to emissions, the current and proposed legislation, and external factors. The IA proposed a satisfactory range of options and was transparent in reporting the limitations of assessing the costs and benefits, which depend ...

This paper examines the evolving notion of crisis response, how it is currently addressed by the EU budget under heading 6 of the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework (amounts and instruments/programmes) and how it may continue to be addressed in the future.