Towards a Sustainable Circular Economy: SMART Reform Proposals

Abstract

The European Union (EU) has developed ambitious strategies to transform the economy, but it is happening too slowly and not uniformly. There is need to set up a smart regulatory mix governing products sold in the EU, designed to achieve coherence and reduce fragmentation of the existing framework pertaining to products and waste, consumer protection, and trade rules. Moreover, CE policies must be developed for the purpose of limiting environmental and social impacts throughout the life cycle of products, extending product lifetime notably through repair and reuse activities and shaping more sustainable consumption behaviours. The new Circular Economy Action Plan released in March 2020 offers great prospects for developing a policy framework for sustainable production and consumption , but the real challenge will lie in developing specific measures to transform objectives into effective legislation.

The reform proposals presented in this report cover a wide range of issues related to product regulation and contain crucial elements to increasing the sustainability of production and consumption.

Keywords: Circular Economy, Sustainability, EU product policy, sustaianble production and consumption