The European Parliament’s Committee on the Environment, Climate and Food Safety has adopted its position on proposed changes to the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (EU CBAM) by 56 votes to 11, with 12 abstentions, and adopted its position on a related temporary decarbonisation fund by 59 votes to 16, with six abstentions. The committee supported extending EU CBAM to a wider range of downstream steel and aluminium products using transparent, quantitative methodologies, while exempting certain electricity flows from non-EU countries used to maintain grid stability. It also strengthened anti-circumvention measures by broadening the definition of slight modification of goods, allowing the European Commission to apply default values based on the true country of origin where circumvention is identified, introducing new rules for online imports, simplifying reporting requirements for least-developed countries, and removing the proposed use of Paris Agreement Article 6 carbon credits to meet EU CBAM obligations.

The European Parliament’s Environment, Climate and Food Safety Committee and Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee have adopted a report supporting the simplification of EU chemicals legislation, while maintaining a high level of protection for human health and the environment. The report, which sets out Parliament’s position on the European Commission’s ‘Omnibus VI’ package, seeks to streamline rules on the classification, labelling and packaging of chemicals, as well as frameworks governing cosmetic products and fertilisers, with a view to reducing administrative burdens and improving regulatory clarity.

The European Parliament’s Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety has adopted a Soil Monitoring Law to achieve healthy soils by 2050. The new law obliges Member States to monitor and assess the health of their soils and categorise the soil quality as per ‘tiers’, with ‘tier 1’ providing a minimum set of soil descriptors. MEPs want to establish a public list of contaminated sites in all Member States at the latest four years after entry into force of this Directive. Member States are also to investigate, access and clean up contamination sites which pose risks to human health. The European Commission will make a public sustainable soil management toolbox available to provide soil managers with practical information on the use of sustainable soil management practices, including best practices and latest soil research results. The text will be put to a vote in the plenary session in April 2024.

The European Parliament's Committee on Environment, Climate Change and Food Safety (ENVI) has endorsed the European Commission's proposal to simplify the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (EU CBAM). The proposal introduces a 50-tonne de minimis threshold that exempts 90% of importers, while ensuring of 99% of CO2 emissions from imports of iron, steel, aluminium, cement and fertiliser remain covered. As part of the 'Omnibus I' simplification package, the initiative includes measures to streamline authorisation procedures, emissions calculations and financial liability management. The committee adopted the text with 85 votes in favour, 1 against and 1 abstention. A full Parliament vote scheduled for 22 May 2025.

The European Parliament’s Committee on the Environment, Climate and Food Safety (ENVI) has adopted its position by 43 votes to 21, with 6 abstentions, on the European Commission’s proposal to amend the market stability reserve (MSR) for the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). The ENVI Committee’s position proposes retaining the mechanism under which allowances in the MSR above a specified threshold are invalidated but increasing the threshold from 400 million to 650 million allowances from 1 March 2027. This differs from the Commission’s proposal to end the invalidation mechanism and allow an unlimited number of additional allowances to remain in the MSR. The ENVI Committee considers that retaining the mechanism with a higher threshold would provide a larger buffer to address supply and demand imbalances while avoiding an excessive accumulation of allowances in the MSR. The European Parliament is scheduled to adopt its mandate for negotiations with EU Member States at its September 2026 plenary session.

The European Parliament has announced that MEPs from the Employment and Social Affairs Committee have adopted a position on new measures aimed at enhancing EU standards protecting workers from dangerous substances. The revised position endorses the sixth revision of the carcinogens, mutagens and reprotoxic substances (CMR) directive, introducing new exposure limit values for dangerous chemicals used in battery, steel, chemical and textile industries. The chemicals include cobalt compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, 1,4-dioxane, welding fumes and a long-term limit for isoprene, which is classified as carcinogenic. Under the new provisions, employers are required to provide personal protective equipment whenever exposure levels cannot be reduced below the newly established limits. The proposal also calls for additional protection for firefighters and emergency services, as well as financial and technical support for small and medium-sized enterprises. These measures are anticipated to prevent approximately 1,700 lung cancer cases and 19,000 other illnesses over a 40-year period. Interinstitutional negotiations have been approved and the mandate awaits plenary endorsement before the final form of the law is negotiated with the Council.

The European Parliament committees on Economic and Monetary Affairs, Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, and Environment, Climate and Food Safety have endorsed proposals introducing a new category of small mid-cap enterprises (SMCs) and extending certain SME exemptions to them. MEPs propose defining SMCs as companies with fewer than 1,000 employees and either up to €200m in turnover or up to €172m in total assets. The development aims to avoid ‘cliff-edge’ situations as firms grow beyond SME status and to boost EU competitiveness.

The European Parliament has announced that its Industry, Research and Energy Committee has adopted its position on proposed legislation to accelerate permit-granting procedures for renewable energy projects, electricity grids, energy storage facilities, recharging stations and heat pumps across the EU, and has voted to open interinstitutional negotiations with the Council of the EU. The proposal includes shorter permitting deadlines, a single national digital portal for permit applications and a dedicated EU-wide permitting framework for electricity grid infrastructure. It also includes faster grid connection procedures, higher capacity thresholds before permits are required for certain small-scale projects and tacit approval where certain permitting deadlines are missed.

The Committee on Standards has published a report on the conduct of David Morris MP. The Committee agrees with the Commissioner’s findings that Mr Morris breached the paid advocacy rule and paragraph 14 of the Code of Conduct and that these breaches were inadvertent. The breaches occurred when Morris asked a topical question on 22 October 2020 following the acceptance of a £10,000 donation from Aquind Ltd and then emailed the Secretary of State for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy, copying in the text of his question. The Committee recommends Morris apologies to the House of Commons by a personal statement which is agreed in advance with Mr Speaker and the Chair of the Committee.

The Science, Innovation and Technology Committee has published a report which calls for the development of the potential of bacteriophages, bacteria-killing viruses, that can provide an alternative to antibiotics in light of growing antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The use of bacteriophages has never been licensed for therapeutic use in the UK as, in order to be deployed in clinical trials, bacteriophages must be manufactured to the Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) standard, however, investment in compliant manufacturing plants will only be justified following successful clinical trials. The report recommends that the government considers establishing a small GMP facility which would provide shared facilities for companies who are unable to afford to make the required level of investment on their own, and urges the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the Department for Health and Social Care to work with bacteriophages researchers to collaborate to ensure a more promising route for bacteriophages research to be funded and its products licensed for use.

The Science, Innovation and Technology Committee has launched an inquiry into the government's plans for a digital centre of government. This inquiry follows the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology's (DSIT) recent publication of reviews on the digital centre's structure, cross-government digital capability and an AI Opportunities Action Plan. The committee will scrutinise DSIT's approach to establishing the new Government Digital Service, examining priorities, opportunities and challenges. The inquiry will consider the impact of the Data (Use and Access) Bill and focus on forward-looking case studies. The committee is seeking written submissions from experts and stakeholders by 3 March 2025, with the aim of providing recommendations as the government prepares to publish further details of its plans in the summer.

The Committee of European Securities Regulators was an independent body established by the European Commission to advise member state authorities'>competent authorities on the technical details of securities legislation. From 1 January 2011, CESR was replaced by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA).