Oct 22, 2026, 6:58 PMPPWR update from the EU Council:
Simplification: Council agrees negotiating stance to cut red tape for small packaging producers
https://www.consilium.europa.eu/de/press/press-releases/2026/10/21/simplification-council-agrees-negotiating-stance-to-cut-red-tape-for-small-packaging-producers/
tl;dr The Council agrees with the urgent need for simplification and removing the EPR duties, albeit with different conditions than what parliament voted for a day prior (instead of max. company size and annual turnover, the Council proposes to use packaging volume as limit — fair enough and no difference to most micro biz).
The Council's position is: "[...]that producers of packaging and packaging of packaged products established in the EU may be exempted from the obligation to appoint an authorised representative in another member state if they make available on the market of that member state a quantity of packaging below 1 tonne per calendar year. The mandate also contains a safeguard clause in case a producer is found in breach with EPR obligations."
Although great news, I'm not sure about the timeline for next steps towards an actual change of law. The press release only states:
"The presidency will enter negotiations with the European Parliament on this file as soon as possible with a view to reaching a quick agreement."
"[...]the objective of concluding work on all simplification packages by the end of 2027."
I'm very much hoping that the EPR parts will be dealt with on a much shorter time horizon — most of the impacted businesses will likely NOT survive another 14 months (until end of next year)...
Still, one small win at a time! 🙌
