ECESP paper on economic incentives published
Brussels – Yesterday, the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform (ECESP) published a paper on economic incentive policies. It was written by the ECESP Leadership Group (LG) consisting of the EEB, BusinessEurope, IRCEM, FEAD, WMRC, MWE, INEC, Ecoembes and led by Ecopreneur.eu.
The paper outlines seven economic incentives that are instrumental to overcome the following major structural and systemic obstacles on the road towards a circular economy: lack of demand for low-carbon circular products and innovative products, services and practices; lack of transparency throughout the value chain; and lack of access to finance. These instruments are:
- Green and Circular Public Procurement (GPP)
- Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) incorporating all external costs in the price of specific product groups
- A tax shift from labour to resources
- No or low VAT for circular products and services across EU
- CO2 pricing making CO2 intensive products more costly
- Add mandatory recycled content for specific product groups
- Additional demand side incentives beyond GPP
Proposing these instruments, the paper goes beyond what is currently foreseen in the European Green Deal and the New Circular Economy Action Plan. The members of the LG emphasise that without these additional measures, circular economy activities will remain a niche market instead of becoming main stream, and thus stall the transition to a low-carbon circular economy.
“Ecopreneur.eu welcomes publication of the current series of Summer 2020 reflections by the ECESP, including the policy-related messages therein”, said Manfred Mühlberger, Chairman of Ecopreneur.eu.
The paper will form a basis for further work on these topics, including preparations of workshops on the 3-4 November Conference. The European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform is a joint initiative by the European Commission and the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) as a space for the exchange of ideas and a growing body of information, and to make the circular economy happen faster to the benefit of all.
To read the full paper, please click here.
