European Members Conference 2021 – Sustainable Champions To The Fore!

Ecopreneur.eu proudly announces our first European Members’ Conference. Under the motto “Sustainable Champions to the Fore!”, we will bring together the members of our national affiliate organisations with high-ranking officials from the European Commission and Parliament as well as other leaders of the green economy.

Participants will have a unique opportunity to learn 1st hand about the European Green Deal, EU support programmes and how advocacy at the EU level is facilitating their businesses across Europe.

If you are a member of one of our national affiliate associations, please go ahead and register HERE.

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Fashion For Change EU Project:
Have your say!

As an important part of the “Fashion for Change” accelerator project, Ecopreneur.eu is currently performing a survey with stakeholders from the textiles and fashion industry to learn how to best clear the way for innovative start-ups, fashion designers, and SMEs to succeed with circular business models.

In a 5-minute poll and personal interviews, we ask about viable approaches and successful initiatives, their positive impact, and the support they need to thrive. The conclusions from the survey will be published in July.

If you are from the textiles and fashion industry and want to have your voice heard, we invite you to take the poll HERE.

With the contribution of the COSME Programme of the European Union

The European Action Plan for a Social Economy should reflect convergence with “green”

Until recently, the “social economy” and the “green economy” were thought of as distinct areas. They are however increasingly connected and suffering from the same barriers to mainstream sustainable solutions like, for example, positive-impact products and services for people, planet and profit.

In feedback to the European Commission, Ecopreneur.eu points out that the European Action Plan for a Social Economy should reflect the convergence between “green” and “social” enterprises, demand 100% green (read: sustainability) conditions on EU support via the European Recovery Plan, and pursue an ambitious implementation of the European Green Deal with all its components.

Read more about our position and feedback to the European Commission HERE.

A modern business taxation framework that works for a European circular economy

Given the choice between two equal goods or services, even a moderate VAT difference can effectively nudge consumers to purchase the more sustainable one.

From that perspective, Ecopreneur.eu strongly advocates a modern EU business taxation framework that would include a tax shift from labour to resources and, as part of that, a temporarily reduced Value Added Tax (VAT) on targeted products and services.

We have re-iterated this clear position in our public response to the European Commission HERE.

New Sustainability Reporting rules to channel green investments

The Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD) will soon become the "Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).

A draft delegated act by the European Commission aims to create a set of standard rules that will – over time – bring sustainability reporting on a par with financial reporting. It will extend the EU's sustainability reporting requirements to all large and listed companies and invite SMEs to use proportionate standards on a voluntarily basis.

Read more about the draft reporting regulation HERE.

Second Hand Counts - Join the EU Green Week debate

During this year’s European Green Week, Ecopreneur.eu supports HUMANA, an associate of our founding member BNW e. V., with two highly interactive official partner events on June 4^th and 5^th.

Together with stakeholders from the textiles sector, we will explore the situation of the second-hand sector in the EU and its member states. What are the key policy instruments to help second-hand become mainstream? How should we go about it? Would a reduced VAT rate on second-hand clothes and repair services do the trick? Should we collect one million signatures across the EU in a European Citizens’ Initiative to support our cause?

Both events will be held in English and are free of cost. For more information and registrations, continue reading HERE

New EU Chemicals Strategy: 3 elements green companies are missing

On March 15th, the Council of the European Union adopted the new EU chemicals strategy for a toxic-free environment, that will form part of the Zero pollution action plan. 

Ecopreneur.eu welcomes the Council’s conclusions, as they are widely in line with our public response to the European Commission in 2018.

However, there are three important elements that we believe are missing in the final Strategy, including a second impact assessment, a mandatory gate-to-gate life cycle analysis, and a statement about the preconditions for chemical recycling technologies.

Read about our position in more detail HERE.

ORIENTING website now LIVE

Over the next three years, Ecopreneur.eu will be participating in “ORIENTING”, a EU funded project for developing a robust Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) methodology.

As reported in our last newsletter, the “S” in LCSA indicates that the new methodology will consider environmental, social and economic impacts in an integrated way, allowing practitioners to assess, understand and manage possible trade-offs for goods produced under different business models.

As part of the consortium of this EU-funded Horizon 2020 project, Ecopreneur.eu will make sure that the outcomes will not only be state-of-the-art, but also user-friendly, affordable, and relevant for SMEs.

If you would like to keep in closer touch with the project, you can now visit the ORIENTING new website and keep yourself informed by registering as a stakeholder. 

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 958231