Circular Economy Act - Circular economy and responsible resource consumption within planetary boundaries

The EESC Youth Test was applied to this opinion. National Youth Council of Slovenia was chosen to represent all interested youth organisations during the opinion-making process.

Key points

The EESC:

• recommends the CEA to be an Act - not just a proposal - to send a strong signal on the EU’s leadership in driving urgent, systemic circular economy change;

• insists that the Act must be accompanied by a clear mapping of all the interrelated rules, regulations, action plans and strategies that formulate the legislative framework for the circular transition;

• suggests the focus on incentives for a strong, well-functioning secondary raw material market to be a cornerstone of the Act;

• proposes strengthening secondary raw material markets and circular business models (reuse, repair, remanufacturing);

• suggests to advance public procurement, reform EPR (beyond recycling, e.g., via eco-modulated fees), ensure material traceability as well as to scale eco-design, improve working conditions, and promote remanufacturing;

• recommends annexing a regularly updated repository of circular economy good practices drawn from the European Circular Economy Stakeholders Platform (ECESP) to the Act. The repository should be linked to indicators and monitoring frameworks, helping to track progress and inform evidence-based policymaking;

• believes that traceability, certification, harmonised labelling and technical standards should be the core tools to build market confidence in secondary raw materials, support implementation and scaling up in the EU;

• stresses that transition brokers must be formally recognised and resourced to drive circularity across value chains;

• recognises that a just transition is essential: civil society, cooperatives, and social enterprises should be co-architects, not just beneficiaries, with affordable circular solutions and accessible incentives;

• underlines that the ECESP should be used as a strategic partner to align priorities, test new indicators, identify implementation barriers, and help accelerate the transition.