Omnibus environment - Simplification of administrative burden in environmental legislation

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

Key points

The EESC:

• considers that, provided that the core objectives and level of ambition of the existing acquis are preserved, simplification can contribute to a more efficient and effective regulatory framework, while supporting the competitiveness and resilience of the European economy throughout the green transition;

• believes that by addressing the systemic issues identified across the legislative files reviewed, the EU can strengthen both its environmental objectives and its economic resilience;

• notes that simplification measures must primarily target the reduction of duplication and the harmonisation of formats, without removing the obligation to monitor environmental impacts;

• considers that the systematic application of the ‘once only’ principle, whereby the same data are provided only once and reused across regulatory frameworks, should become a cornerstone of EU environmental governance;

• stresses the need to rationalise permitting and authorisation procedures, ensuring proportionality between the scale, duration and risk of activities and the administrative requirements imposed;

• reiterates the importance of being consulted and issuing EU-level guidance, FAQs and implementing acts sufficiently in advance of application dates;

• invites the Commission to consider conducting a full and comprehensive impact assessment for the omnibus proposal;

• notes that full and comprehensive project-specific environmental assessments should be maintained;

• welcomes that Member States will be able to decide whether to require producers established in third countries to appoint an authorised representative for extended producer responsibility;

• considers that, to deliver real simplification, implementation of the legislation and future Omnibus measures should recognise the contribution of deposit return schemes and reuse measures;

• reiterates that the threshold for livestock holdings be raised based on a new comprehensive impact assessment of rearing technologies.