EU Council backs limited packaging EPR representative relief, but negotiations remain open
The Council supports limited relief from packaging EPR representative requirements for qualifying EU producers. The proposal remains under negotiation and does not authorise changes to current arrangements.
Source published: 2026-10-21
Audience / jurisdiction: European Union; primarily EU-established packaging producers supplying into other member states and their compliance teams.
Council backs targeted relief, not a current exemption
The Council of the European Union agreed its negotiating position on 21 October 2026 on proposed relief from certain packaging extended producer responsibility (EPR) authorised-representative requirements. The development could matter to EU-established producers supplying small quantities of packaging into other member states.
The important distinction is legislative status. The Council has backed a position for negotiations with the European Parliament; it has not established an exemption that producers can use now. Compliance teams should therefore treat the announcement as a regulatory-change signal rather than permission to discontinue representative arrangements.
Who could fall within the proposed scope?
The Council mandate would provide relief for EU-established producers supplying less than one tonne of packaging per calendar year in each relevant other member state. Packaging of packaged products is included. The threshold is therefore not presented as a single total covering all EU destinations.
For a preliminary assessment, this makes destination-level information more useful than an organisation-wide packaging total. A producer considering whether the proposal could affect its arrangements would need to understand the quantities associated with the relevant supplying entity and destination market.
The draft preserves the existing approach to producers established outside the EU. Such producers should not assume that a small packaging volume would make them eligible for this proposed relief.
Sources: [2]
The proposal is narrower than an EPR exemption
The proposed suspension concerns the authorised-representative requirement in Article 45(3) of Regulation (EU) 2025/40. It is not a general exemption from extended producer responsibility obligations. That distinction matters when describing the proposal internally: relief from one administrative arrangement should not be recorded as removal of the underlying EPR responsibilities.
The mandate also includes a safeguard. A competent authority could require a producer benefiting from the exemption to appoint a representative if that producer breaches its EPR obligations. The proposed relief would therefore remain connected to compliance performance rather than operating as an unconditional release from responsibility.
Sources: [2]
Keep publication, review and effective dates separate
The Council announcement and negotiating mandate are dated 21 October 2026. Those dates identify publication of the announcement and the mandate, not the start of an exemption. The announcement identifies negotiations with the European Parliament as the next step.
Under the Council’s proposed wording, the relevant requirement would be suspended until 1 January 2032, with the duration of the suspension reviewed by 31 December 2030. These are proposed suspension and review dates, not confirmed implementation deadlines.
The draft provides for entry into force 20 days after publication in the Official Journal. The supplied evidence does not establish final adoption or an Official Journal publication that would trigger that provision. There is consequently no enacted effective date to enter in a compliance register on the strength of these sources.
Prepare the evidence without changing arrangements prematurely
The following are editorial suggestions, not additional official requirements. Record the proposal in the regulatory-change register as under negotiation, with an owner responsible for following the agreed text and any subsequent Official Journal publication. Keep the proposed dates separate from dates governing current operations.
Map packaging quantities by destination member state, calendar year and supplying legal entity. Identify which existing representative arrangements might be affected if the proposal is adopted, but do not cancel them because of the Council announcement. This preparation can support a later decision without assuming that the final scope will match the negotiating mandate.
Before making operational changes, check the final legislative wording alongside applicable country-specific EPR duties. The immediate management task is to establish reliable scope and quantity information while preserving a clear distinction between proposed relief and current obligations.
Sources
- Simplification: Council agrees negotiating stance to cut red tape for small packaging producers
- Council document 14765/26 — mandate for negotiations with the European Parliament
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