Regulation on packaging and packaging waste

Poland's position is that the objectives of a circular economy should be as ambitious as possible and, above all, realistic, measurable, technically feasible and sustainable, i.e. taking into consideration not only environmental but also economic and social aspects. The transition to Circular Economy requires both consideration of the needs of business and society and appropriate education of the public

- Anita Sowińska, Deputy Minister of Climate and Environment, said at the meeting.

The Deputy Minister stressed that unnecessary standardisation of packaging should be avoided when designing regulations.

We see some difficulties in the feasibility of meeting the targets for per capita packaging waste reduction and recyclable packaging. We therefore call for a postponement of the deadlines for achieving the targets in this area by five years

- Deputy Minister Sowińska pointed out.

Directive on Soil Monitoring and Resilience

The Council meeting also discussed the Directive on Soil Monitoring and Resilience. The aim is to achieve healthy soils across the EU by 2050 at the latest. According to the deputy minister, the proposal to monitor and assess the health of all soils in established soil areas based on the proposed method and the parameters indicated will be a significant challenge for Poland.

We believe that more use should be made of existing achievements and methods developed at the national level

- she stressed.

The establishment of a healthy soil certificate should be voluntary, and Member States should be able to define more flexibly how to achieve the expected results

- she said.

Regulation on a monitoring framework for resilient European forests

Regarding the Regulation on a monitoring framework for resilient European forests, Deputy Minister Sowińska emphasised that Poland has a long history of collecting information on forests and their resources concerning the state of the natural environment.

The forest monitoring framework has always been, and continues to be, a strategic element in planning and optimising forest management at both local and national levels. Its value is immeasurable when it comes to assessing challenges and threats, particularly in maintaining forest sustainability and resilience

- she noted.

The Deputy Minister of Climate and Environment stressed that the measures and tools used to achieve the forest monitoring target must take into account the unique characteristics and diversity of forests across Europe, as well as the public's expectations in this regard.

Monitoring activities are among the costly ones. Therefore, maximum use should be made of existing forest monitoring systems, and costs and inputs should be properly assessed at the Member State level to ensure proper implementation of the agreed solutions, which should be compatible with natural, social and economic principles of sustainability

- she added.

Bilateral meetings

On the sidelines of the Environment Council, Deputy Minister Sowińska met with representatives of the Visegrad Group and Bulgaria and Romania. The deputy head of the Ministry of Climate and Environment also held talks with the Czech Minister for the Environment, Petr Hladík, on joint measures to protect air and water quality. The topic of the conversation with the Belgian Minister of Climate, Environment, Sustainable Development and Green Deal, Zakia Khattabi was, in turn, the Belgian EU Council Presidency's plans for the next six months.

The Deputy Minister also met with an Austrian delegation led by Leonore Gewessler, Austrian Minister for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology.