NNDKP Environment Flash No.2/2025
1. EU DEVELOPMENTS SELECTION [1]
1.1. The Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation entered into force
Regulation 2025/40 on packaging and packaging waste entered into force on 11 February 2025, after being published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 22 January 2025.
More information on the new Regulation can be found in NNDKP`s Environment Flash No. 3/2024 available here, No. 4/2024 available here and No. 1/2025 available here.
1.2. The Commission calls on Romania to correctly transpose the SUP Directive
On 12 February 2025, the European Commission opened an infringement procedure against Romania by sending a letter of formal notice for failing to correctly transpose the Directive 2019/904 on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic products on the environment (the “SUP Directive”).
Romania has not correctly and fully transposed the SUP Directive. For example, the Romanian legislation allows several exemptions from the ban on placing single-use plastic products on the market, such as for the beverage stirrers and single-use plastic sticks used for medical purposes.
National legislation also does not require producers to bear the full costs in accordance with the extended producer responsibility provisions of the SUP Directive. Moreover, there are no measures in place to encourage the use of sustainable alternatives to single-use plastic for food.
Romania therefore has two months to respond to the letter of formal notice and to remedy the shortcomings pointed out by the Commission. In the absence of a satisfactory response, the Commission may decide to continue the procedure by issuing a reasoned opinion.
1.3. New provisional agreement on the revision of the Waste Framework Directive
On 19 February 2025, the Council and the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement on the revision of the Directive 2008/98/EC (the “Waste Framework Directive”), which mainly sets EU targets for food waste reduction by 2030 (the first ever set at EU level) and measures targeting the textile waste sector.
The provisional agreement includes rules on the extended responsibility of textile producers, who will be responsible for their own waste and will be required to pay a fee to help fund waste collection and treatment. This fee will depend on the degrees of circularity and sustainability built into the design of their products.
The next step is for the provisional agreement to be formally approved by the Council and Parliament before undergoing expert revision. Once adopted, member states will have up to 20 months to update their national laws to follow the new rules.
The Commission welcomes the provisional agreement to improve textile circularity and reduce food waste.
1.4. The Commision presents the Clean Industrial Deal
On 26 february 2025, the European Commission presented the Clean Industrial Deal, a plan aimed to make decarbonising Europe’s industry both achievable and profitable.
The Deal focuses mainly on two sectors: energy-intensive industries and clean tech. It provides a framework to tailor actions in specific sectors. The Commission is set to present an Action Plan for the automotive industry in March and an Action Plan for steel and metals in the spring.
The Deal sets out a number of legislative and regulatory initiatives to support European industry, such as:
- the Industrial Decarbonisation Accelerator Act. Among other things, it will establish a low CO2 product label for steel and, later, for cement, providing consumers with information on the CO2 intensity of products;
- the Circular Economy Act, which aims among others to create a single market for waste and recyclables;
- the strengthening and extension of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, including by reviewing the need to extend the mechanism to other ETS sectors and downstream products.
1.5. The new Commission legislative proposals on sustainability rules – the so-called Omnibus Package
On 26 February 2025, the European Commission adopted a package of legislative proposals aimed at simplifying EU rules, boosting competitiveness, and unlocking additional investment capacity.
The legislative package includes:
- a proposal for a directive amending the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD);
- a proposal for a directive which postpones the application of all reporting requirements in the CSRD for companies that are due to report in 2026 and 2027 and which postpones the transposition deadline and the first wave of application of the CSDDD by one year, to 2028;
- a proposal for a Regulation amending the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism Regulation (CBAM).
The proposals bring significant changes to sustainability reporting.
For example, the new proposals on the CSRD will remove around 80% of companies from the CSRD scope, while the reporting requirements for those currently covered will be postponed by two years, until 2028.
In addition, due diligence obligations in sustainability will be simplified by focusing on direct business partners and reducing the frequency of periodic assessments to avoid unnecessary complexity and costs for companies within the scope of the CSDDD.
Regarding the CBAM, small importers, such as SMEs and individuals, will be exempt from CBAM obligations.
The next step is to submit the legislative proposals to the European Parliament and the Council for review and subsequent adoption.
2. NATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS SELECTION[1]
2.1. Draft Ordinance on the extension of some deadlines and the amendment of some normative acts
On 23 January 2025, the Ministry of the Environment, Water and Forestry submitted for public debate the draft Ordinance on the extension of certain deadlines and the amendment of certain normative acts relevant to the environment.
Among its provisions, we note the proposal to extend the deadline of 31 January 2025 of the current Article 1 para. (3) of the Emergency Ordinance 103/2024 on the reorganization of some public institutions in the field of environment, water and forestry (which initially provided for a deadline of 60 days from the date of entry into force of the ordinance) until 31 March 2025. This deadline envisages the adoption of the Government Decision on the organization and functioning of the National Agency for the Environment and Protected Areas (“NAEPA”), which so far has not passed the draft stage.
More information on the Emergency Ordinance 103/2024 and on the draft Government Decision on the organization and functioning of the NAEPA can be found in NNDKP’s Environment Flash No. 9/2024 available here and No. 11/2024 available here.
2.2. Order 215/2025 approving the amendments to the model and content of the Declaration on the obligations to the Environmental Fund
On 29 January 2025, the Order No. 215/2025 amending Annexes No. 1 and 2 to the Order of the Minister of Environment, Water and Forestry No. 3173/2023, approving the model and content of the “Declaration on the obligations to the Environmental Fund” form and its completion instructions was published in Official Gazette No. 78.
The new amendments have updated (i) the format of the Declaration on the obligations to the Environmental Fund regarding the reporting of data on the quantities of products packaged in non-reusable primary packaging as provided for in Government Decision No. 1074/2021 on the establishment of the deposit-return system for non-reusable primary packaging and (ii) the instructions for filling in the table that refers to these data.
[1] Both EU and national developments are listed chronologically.
The Romanian version of this newsletter is available here.
