COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS A new Circular Economy Action Plan For a cleaner and more competitive Europe.

For the full text, in the languages of the EU, refer to COM/2020/98 final (BG, ES, CS, DA, DE, ET, EL, EN, FR, GA, HR, IT, LV, LT, HU, MT, NL, PL, PT, RO, SK, SL, FI, SV)


This communication is relevant to the technical work on the EU Taxonomy which is the object of #ffsi - A framework to facilitate sustainable investment (EU) 2020/852.


The communication introduces a Sustainable Product Policy Framework and lists product value chains that require urgent, comprehensive and coordinated actions:


Four actions are dealing with waste in particular:

  • Enhanced waste policy in support of waste prevention and circularity
  • Enhancing circularity in a toxic-free environment
  • Creating a well-functioning EU market for secondary raw materials
  • Addressing waste exports from the EU

To make circularity work for people, regions and cities, these synergies are pursued and platforms used:

  • Job creation: Between 2012 and 2018 the number of jobs linked to the circular economy in the EU grew by 5% to reach around 4 million1. Circularity can be expected to have a positive net effect on job creation provided that workers acquire the skills required by the green transition. The potential of the social economy, which is a pioneer in job creation linked to the circular economy, will be further leveraged by the mutual benefits of supporting the green transition and strengthening social inclusion, notably under the Action Plan to implement the European Pillar of Social Rights2.
  • Skills: The Commission will ensure that its instruments in support of skills and job creation contribute also to accelerating the transition to a circular economy, including in the context of updating its Skills Agenda, launching a Pact for Skills with large-scale multi-stakeholder partnerships, and the Action Plan for Social Economy. Further investment in education and training systems, lifelong learning, and social innovation will be promoted under the European Social Fund Plus.
  • Financing instruments: The Commission will also harness the potential of EU financing instruments and funds to support the necessary investments at regional level and ensure that all regions benefit from the transition. In addition to awareness-raising, cooperation and capacity-building, Cohesion Policy funds will help regions to implement circular economy strategies and reinforce their industrial fabric and value chains. Circular economy solutions will be tailored to the outermost regions and islands, due to their dependence on resource imports, high waste generation fuelled by tourism, and waste exports. The Just Transition Mechanism3 proposed as part of the European Green Deal Investment Plan and InvestEU will be able to support projects focusing on the circular economy.
  • City initiatives: The proposed European Urban Initiative, the Intelligent Cities Challenge Initiative, and the Circular Cities and Regions Initiative will provide key assistance to cities. Circular economy will be among the priority areas of the Green City Accord.
  • The European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform will continue to be the place for stakeholders to exchange information.

The Crosscutting actions focus on:

  • Circularity as a prerequisite for climate neutrality:
  • Getting the economics right: including integrating the circular economy objective under the EU Taxonomy Regulation4.
  • Driving the transition through research, innovation and digitalisation