Shaping Circular Economy Act

In partnership with Systems Transformation Hub, Ibec recently hosted representatives from the European Commission, Member States, the Irish Presidency of the Council of the EU, business, and civil society for a high-level roundtable on the forthcoming Circular Economy Act.

With the Act planned to be published during Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the EU, this was an important opportunity for Irish business to engage directly with policymakers and provide insight on how the Circular Economy Act can lay the foundations that will help build a stronger, more resilient European economy.

Ibec passed on a clear message to policy makers message that capital is ready to be invested but uncertainty about rules and market conditions are holding back delivery of projects. Amplifying this problem is fragmentation across the Single Market acting as a barrier to circularity. Differing national rules, classifications, and end-of-waste criteria were seen to make secondary materials harder to trade and often more expensive than virgin inputs.

Europe’s progress on recycling and reusing materials has stalled in recent years. To fix this, the new Act needs to make circular business models simple, practical, and financially viable for companies. To promote maximum harmonisation, the Act should be legislated on an Internal Market legal basis in the form of a regulation as opposed to directives. Harmonisation of standards is essential to limit the negative impact of diverging national rules and gold-plating – two of the so called ‘Terrible Ten’ barriers to holding back integration of the Single Market across the EU.

For an island nation like Ireland, reusing materials locally builds stronger supply chains and protects businesses from global trade shocks. However, circular business models depend on scale to be economically viable. The Circular Economy Act needs to provide the right investment signals by accelerating planning consents for the required infrastructure, including for processing, treatment and shipment.

For more, contact Juan Pablo Martinez, Environmental Sustainability Policy Senior Executive, Policy, Lobbying and Global Affairs Division

Influencing the quality jobs act at the Tripartite Social Summit

Ibec Chair Anne Heraty and CEO Danny McCoy participated in the Tripartite Social Summit (TSS) on 14 October, a centrepiece of the Irish EU Presidency. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Council President Antonio Costa and Taoiseach Micheál Martin participated alongside European social partners. On the same day, Ibec also had a bilateral meeting with Roxana Mînzatu, the Executive Vice-President of the European Commission with responsibility for Social Rights and Skills, Quality Jobs and Preparedness.

In these engagements, Ibec emphasised that before considering any new legislative action including the Quality Jobs Act, the Commission should demonstrate that there is a genuine regulatory gap which cannot be addressed through better implementation, guidance or enforcement. Further, true job quality stems from sustainable, competitive, and profitable enterprises capable of generating long-term employment. Overly rigid legislative mandates risk reducing labour market flexibility, which could inadvertently discourage hiring and investment within the Single Market. Thirdly, the diversity of national labour market systems, industrial relations models and social dialogue traditions is not an obstacle to be overcome, but a core feature of the European social model. Future EU action must therefore fully respect subsidiarity, proportionality, national competences and social partner autonomy.

Ibec also raised Skillnets in Ireland as a good example of upskilling and reskilling to meet the demands of the economy of tomorrow. The Skillnets training framework demonstrates how industry-led upskilling can bridge the productivity gap, deliver real competitiveness for our businesses and future-proof skills for our people. Scaling this kind of enterprise-led collaboration across the Single Market is exactly how we translate the high-level ambitions of the Draghi and Letta reports into tangible European competitiveness through skills funding focused on AI. For example, there is potential to invest in these types of initiatives by leveraging ESF+.

Ibec contributed to the BusinessEurope response to the second-phase European social partners consultation on the Quality Jobs Act in September which emphasised that although the fields identified for potential EU actions are relevant for the modern world of work, this doesn’t automatically justify legislative action at the EU level. Further, established EU directives including the Working Time Directive, GDPR and the AI Act already offer strong employee protections. Introducing additional legislative layers risks creating overlapping compliance obligations, legal ambiguity and conflicting definitions. Also, expanded reporting obligations and added regulatory friction threaten international competitiveness.

For more, contact Kara McGann, Head of Skills and Social Policy, Policy, Lobbying and Global Affairs Division