Category: Regulation & compliance
Provisional Agreement Reached on Groundbreaking New Products Law: EU Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation
Provisional agreement on the text of the new Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation was reached by the European Union institutions on 4 December 2023. The ESPR will introduce a new, broad ecodesign framework that will empower the European Commission to adopt far-reaching sustainability requirements for product groups. It also will create new transparency requirements for products in the form of an EU ‘digital product passport’ and will ban the destruction of unsold clothing and footwear.
Provisional Agreement Reached on Proposed EU Cyber Resilience Act
Emma Bichet and Tracey Bischofberger
Provisional agreement on the text of the proposed new European Union Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) was reached by the EU institutions on 30 November 2023. The first regulation of its kind, the CRA seeks to impose new cybersecurity requirements, as well as requirements for conformity assessment and CE marking to demonstrate compliance with the new requirements, together with recall and reporting obligations, on ‘products with digital elements’. This is a broad concept that covers connected products, software and certain types of data processing.
EU Changes CSRD Thresholds to Reduce Sustainability Reporting Burden
In January 2023, the European Union adopted the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), which requires EU and non-EU companies meeting certain thresholds to file annual sustainability reports alongside their financial statements. On 17 October 2023, the European Commission adopted an amendment to the thresholds in the Accounting Directive, impacting which entities will need to file CSRD-compliant reports.
Plastic Packaging Tax: Lifting the Lid
David Wilson , Natasha Kaye , Jack Jones and Eerik Kukebal
In this post, we lift the (recyclable!) lid on plastic packaging taxes – a relatively new and evolving area of environmental taxation. We focus on the UK’s plastic packaging tax, highlighting areas of complexity and steps to take if you may be within its scope, and provide an overview of the approach(es) being taken within the European Union.
EU Advocate General Argues That Harmonized Technical Standards Must Be Freely Available
In a case brought by two nonprofit organisations against the judgment of the EU General Court (the EU junior court) upholding the European Commission’s decision refusing to grant access to four harmonized technical standards (HTS), the Advocate General (AG) argued that the Court of Justice of the European Union (the EU senior court) should annul the General Court’s judgment and the European Commission’s decision and order the European Commission to grant the two nonprofit organisations access to the standards.
EU Adopts Restriction of Intentionally Added Microplastics
Emma Bichet and Selma Abdel-Qader
On 25 September 2023, one year after the publication of the proposal, the European Commission adopted the restriction of intentionally added microplastics under the European Union Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation, and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) Regulation 1907/2006, the EU framework for regulating chemicals
EU Introduces New Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism
Juan Nascimbene, Emma-Bichet, Fergal Duggan and
Emerald Hockley
The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is a European Union regulation which has been introduced to reduce carbon emissions produced by manufactured goods imported from jurisdictions with less stringent carbon emissions regulations.
EU Puts Red Light on Greenwashing: Agreement Reached on New Laws Targeting Greenwashing
This week, the European Council and Parliament reached provisional agreement on a new European Union (EU) directive to ‘empower consumers for the green transition’.
EU Study Investigates Different Models for Directly Shipping Drugs to Patients
On 12 July 2023, a study was published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology on different models in Europe for directly shipping drugs to patients during decentralized clinical trials (DCTs ), which are conducted in environments such as a participant’s home or a local address, rather than investigative sites. […]
European Commission Adopts Directive Extending Time Lead can be used in PVC sensors of IVDs
The European Commission has adopted Commission Delegated Directive (EU) 2023/1526, which amends Directive 2011/65/EU of the European Parliament and European Council as regards an exemption for lead as a thermal stabilizer in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) used as base material in sensors for in vitro diagnostic medical devices (IVDs). Directive 2011/65/EU […]