Commission welcomes agreement with Parliament and Council on simplifying environmental reporting

Last night, the negotiators of the Commission, the European Parliament and the Council reached a provisional agreement to update the rules on environmental reporting, including on waste and climate change. The Commission is monitoring the implementation of EU legislation in the EU Member States to ensure that the laws achieve their intended objectives and that all countries of the EU respect the rules that have been agreed. The most common way of doing this is throughreporting and monitoring.Yesterday’s agreement updates the rules on reporting under the Standardised Reporting Directive and ensures legal clarity.It is part of the Juncker Commission’s Better Regulation policy, which aims to improve implementation of EU rules, simplify them and reduce burden for public administrations. Commissioner Vella said: “Today’s technologies give us many opportunities to make reporting requirements in environmental laws quicker, simpler and more effective. The rapid agreement on simplified environmental reporting testifies to the common commitment of the Commission, Parliament and Council to harnessing these opportunities for better regulation and increased transparency. This will benefit everybody involved or interested in the environment. It’s a good example of how better regulation helps us uphold our high environmental standards and meet our evidence-based policy objectives, and informing citizens better.” The agreement also marks the first deliverable of the REFIT streamlining exercise on environmental obligations in the EU, as proposed in the Action Plan to streamline environmental reportingadopted earlier this year and will help reduce an administrative burden estimated at around €22 million annually. Following the provisional agreement reached the Commission looks forward to the formal adoption, which should take place at the same time as the Circular Economy waste package.