Immediate actions to address the consequences of the Packaging Regulation on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are being requested by Dimitris Tsiodras, through his question to the European Commission.
Given that the Regulation creates significant administrative and financial costs with disproportionate effects especially for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, he asks the Commission whether it is considering the permanent simplification of extended producer responsibility obligations for SMEs and the removal of the obligation to appoint an authorized representative in other Member States.
The MEP and spokesperson for the European Parliament group of New Democracy refers, specifically, to the new significant obligations entailed by the Regulation, especially in relation to registration in national Registers and the implementation of the rules of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).
Dimitris Tsiodras concludes by underlining the need to create a single European entry point for registrations and the possibility of submitting one free registration or one with proportionate cost for all the Member States in which a business operates.
The full text of the question follows:
Question for written answer to the Commission
Subject: Actions to address the consequences of the implementation of the Regulation on Packaging and Packaging Waste (PPWR) on small and medium-sized enterprises
Regulation (EU) 2025/40 on Packaging and Packaging Waste (PPWR) creates significant new obligations for businesses, especially in relation to registration in national Registers and the implementation of the rules of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).
Specifically, the obligation to appoint an authorized representative for the purposes of extended producer responsibility creates significant administrative and financial costs with disproportionate effects especially on micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, limiting, in practice, their access to the single market.
Given that the suspension of the application of the relevant obligation until 1 January 2035 has already been proposed, the Commission is asked:
- How does it intend to ensure that the implementation of the Regulation and EPR obligations will not create a disproportionate burden for SMEs nor obstacles to their cross-border activities in the single market?
- Beyond the temporary suspension proposed in the Environmental Omnibus (VIII), is it considering the permanent simplification of the relevant obligations for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and the removal of the obligation to appoint an authorized representative in other Member States?
- Is it considering the creation of a single European entry point for registrations and the possibility of submitting one free registration or one with proportionate cost for all the Member States in which a business operates?