The European Parliament adopted a legislative resolution approving, unamended, the Council position at first reading with a view to the adoption of a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 94/62/EC as regards reducing the consumption of lightweight plastic carrier bags.
A proposal to reject the Council position, tabled by the EFDD group, was rejected in plenary by 48 votes to 590, with 53 abstentions.
The objective of the proposal is to limit negative impacts on the environment, in particular in terms of littering, to encourage waste prevention and a more efficient use of resources, while limiting negative socio-economic impacts. More specifically, the proposal aims at reducing the consumption of plastic carrier bags with a thickness of below 50 microns (0.05 millimetres) in the European Union.
In a statement annexed to the legislative resolution, Parliament took note of the statement made by the Commission on the adoption of the agreement amending Directive 94/62/EC as regards reducing the consumption of lightweight plastic carrier bags.
Parliament considered that the text agreed by the co-legislators is fully in line with the aims of the Commission proposal. It stated that the final text agreed is based on the preferred option identified in the Commission's own impact assessment, and establishes appropriate provisions for Member States to ensure effective reduction of the consumption of plastic bags across the Union.
The European Parliament recalled furthermore that according to the Inter-institutional agreement on better law-making of 2003, it is within the discretion of the co-legislators to decide whether an impact assessment should be carried out prior to the adoption of any substantive amendment. Parliament appreciated the efforts made by the Commission in order to conclude the inter-institutional negotiations. It deplored, however, the fact that the Commission's declaration addresses issues that have already been dealt with adequately during the legislative procedure.