The European Parliament and the Council of the European Union have adopted their respective negotiating positions on proposals to temporarily suspend certain extended producer responsibility (EPR) authorized-representative requirements, aiming to reduce administrative burdens for businesses selling products across EU borders.

The European Parliament adopted its positions on October 20, 2026, while the Council agreed on its negotiating mandate for packaging and packaged products on October 21.

The two institutions will now negotiate the final legislation. The proposals form part of the European Commission's Environmental Omnibus VIII simplification package.

Parliament proposes exemption for micro and small enterprises

Parliament supports limiting the proposed suspension to micro and small enterprises established in the EU, defined as businesses with fewer than 50 employees and annual turnover or a balance-sheet total below €10 million.

The Commission's original proposal sought to suspend the authorised-representative requirement until January 1, 2035, without restricting the relief to companies of a particular size. Parliament's position would make the exemption more targeted, with the suspension ending in 2035 or when comprehensive circular-economy legislation takes effect, whichever comes first.

The proposals cover two groups of legislation. One concerns batteries and packaging and packaging waste; the other addresses waste electrical and electronic equipment, textiles, footwear and single-use plastics.

Parliament's positions received strong support in plenary. The proposal covering batteries and packaging waste was adopted by 616 votes to nine, with 39 abstentions. The position covering textiles, footwear, electronic equipment and single-use plastics received 612 votes in favour, eight against and 39 abstentions.

MEPs also called for improved information exchange between Member States, interoperable digital systems and common reporting requirements. The proposed suspension would concern the appointment of authorised representatives, rather than eliminating producers' wider EPR responsibilities.

Council proposes a one-tonne threshold for packaging

The Council's negotiating mandate takes a different approach to packaging and packaged products. It proposes exempting EU-established producers from appointing an authorised representative in another Member State where they place less than one tonne of packaging on that national market per calendar year.

The mandate includes a safeguard for cases in which a producer is found to have breached its EPR obligations. It also calls for the European Commission to review the duration of the suspension by December 31, 2030, ahead of its scheduled expiry in 2032.

The Council expects a more comprehensive solution for EPR schemes to be addressed through the forthcoming Circular Economy Act.

The two institutions' positions therefore differ in their approach to eligibility: Parliament proposes an exemption based on company size, while the Council's packaging mandate uses the quantity of packaging placed on each national market. The final scope will depend on the outcome of negotiations.

Ireland’s Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment, Darragh O’Brien, said the agreement would provide relief for small packaging producers while maintaining extended producer responsibility as a core principle of EU environmental law.

Other EPR obligations remain

The proposed suspension would not remove producers' wider responsibilities under applicable EPR schemes. These may include registration, reporting, financial contributions and obligations relating to collection and recycling.

The proposals concern EU-established producers and the requirement to appoint an authorized representative in other Member States. They should not be interpreted as a general exemption from EPR compliance.

The European Commission has also urged Member States to apply the current authorized-representative requirement constructively and pragmatically while the legislative proposals are under consideration, including refraining from sanctioning operators during this period.

Separately, under the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), certain producers placing less than 10 tonnes of packaging on the market annually may qualify for specific flexibilities, such as simplified administrative procedures. These provisions do not constitute a blanket exemption from EPR obligations or automatically remove the authorized-representative requirement.

Existing flexibilities for small producers

The Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) already provides for flexibilities for producers placing less than 10 tonnes of packaging on the market per calendar year.

Depending on national arrangements, these may include exemptions from certain administrative costs, flat EPR fees and simplified administrative or record-keeping requirements.

These measures do not automatically exempt producers from appointing an authorized representative in other Member States, a requirement that has applied across the EU since August 2026.

Next steps

The Council's presidency plans to begin negotiations with the European Parliament as soon as possible, with the aim of reaching an agreement quickly.

The legislation will need to be agreed and formally adopted before the proposed suspension can take effect. Until then, the existing authorized-representative requirements remain applicable wherever their conditions are met.

The final text will determine the scope of the exemption, its duration and the conditions under which eligible producers can benefit.

Background

The ‘Omnibus VIII’ package comprises targeted measures amending six legislative acts under four components:

• a regulation on speeding up environmental assessments (RSEA)
• a regulation and a directive on simplification and reduction of administrative burden
• an amendment to the directive on the infrastructure for spatial information (INSPIRE)
• a regulation and a directive suspending the application of the rules on the appointment of an authorized representative for extended producer responsibility (EPR)

In October 2024, the European Council called on all EU institutions, member states and stakeholders, as a matter of priority, to take work forward, notably in response to the challenges identified in the reports by Enrico Letta (‘Much more than a market’) and Mario Draghi (‘The future of European competitiveness’).

Since February 2025, the Commission has put forward twelve ‘Omnibus’ packages aiming to simplify existing legislation, including an eight Omnibus on simplification of administrative burden in environmental legislation in December 2025.

The 'One Europe, One Market' roadmap signed by the presidents of the Council of the EU, the European Parliament and the Commission in April 2026 includes the objective of concluding work on all simplification packages by the end of 2027.