EU Council Backs Limited Packaging Representative Relief

The EU Council’s packaging mandate proposes representative relief below one tonne per destination Member State. It is a negotiating position, not adopted law.

Foresight

27 October 20262 min readAI-drafted, expert reviewed

EU member-state representatives agreed a Council negotiating mandate on 21 October 2026 for limited relief from packaging extended producer responsibility representative requirements. The text would suspend the appointment obligation for qualifying EU-established producers supplying less than one tonne of packaging annually in another Member State. It is a negotiating position, not adopted legislation. Council document 14765/26.

Threshold Applies In Each Destination Country

The proposed suspension concerns Article 45(3) of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, or PPWR. It would apply until 1 January 2032 for each other Member State where the producer first makes less than one tonne of packaging, including packaging of packaged products, available in a calendar year. Draft Article 2.

The threshold is therefore assessed by destination Member State. It is not a single total across all cross-border sales. A national competent authority could require an exempted producer to appoint a representative if it breaches its extended producer responsibility obligations. Draft Article 2.

The Existing Rule

The PPWR was adopted on 19 December 2024 and published on 22 January 2025. Article 45(3) requires the producers identified in Article 3(1)(15)(c) and (d) to appoint representatives in destination Member States other than their country of establishment. Those definitions concern cross-border supplies directly to end users. PPWR Articles 3 and 45.

The Council mandate targets that appointment requirement; it does not provide a general exemption from extended producer responsibility. Its text retains the possibility for Member States to require representatives for producers established outside the EU. Recital 6 and draft Article 2.

Review And Negotiations

The Council text removes the proposed battery-related suspension from this instrument. It would require the Commission to review the duration of the packaging suspension by 31 December 2030. The document records the mandate for negotiations with the European Parliament. Cover, annex and draft Article 2a.

Official source

Council outcome 14765/26

data.consilium.europa.eu

Topics

Packaging and Packaging Waste

Questions about this change

Would the EU Council’s proposed packaging representative exemption apply below one tonne across the whole EU?

No. The Council mandate assesses less than one tonne of packaging, including packaging of packaged products, per calendar year in each other Member State. It is limited proposed relief from the representative appointment requirement, not a general EPR exemption.

Has the EU Council’s October 2026 packaging EPR representative relief become law?

The 21 October document records a negotiating mandate, not adopted legislation. It proposes a suspension until 1 January 2032 and a review by 31 December 2030; it does not itself suspend existing obligations.