15 September 2026 – Brussels is once again asking for feedback on the controversial Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, PPWR. This time, the issue is harmonised pictograms on packaging and waste containers. Companies are still waiting in vain for a Stop the Clock on the flawed Regulation. Unexpected support, however, is emerging on “Buy European”: on the Industrial Accelerator Act, the German delegation within the EPP Group is distancing itself from overly strict “Made in Europe” rules.
PPWR: Labels from Brussels, but No Stop the Clock
The European Commission will soon be asking for feedback again. This time, its Have Your Say consultation concerns implementing rules for harmonised pictograms on packaging and waste containers. What sounds like a service for consumers is the next chapter in a Regulation that is pushing small and medium sized enterprises to their limits.
A Deadline That Only Applies to Others
The PPWR has applied since 12 August 2026. By that date, the Commission was also supposed to have established the harmonised labelling requirements. Only now is the draft arriving. Companies, by contrast, had to deliver on time: declarations of conformity, registrations and evidence of recyclability. Anyone wishing to sell into all 27 Member States is looking at costs of up to €54,000. Serious penalties may apply in the event of infringements.
Stop the Clock Only for Other Files
With the CSRD, Brussels needed barely eight weeks in 2025 to postpone deadlines. With the PPWR, retailers and manufacturers are still waiting in vain, even though industry associations have been calling for a two year postponement for months. The Commission’s procedures continue regardless. As consolation, companies are left with a social media comment from the Commission suggesting that national authorities should initially issue only warnings in the event of infringements. Legal certainty looks different.
Micromanagement Instead of Trust
The real problem runs deeper. The PPWR dictates down to the smallest detail how packaging must be designed, instead of setting objectives and leaving companies to decide how to achieve them. Large corporations can manage this with their own compliance departments. SMEs pay with time, money and, in the worst case, their existence. Many small retailers are already considering giving up.
Made in Europe: The German EPP Puts on the Brakes
On the Industrial Accelerator Act, which is intended to give European products preferential treatment in public procurement and funding programmes, the German delegation within the EPP Group is distancing itself from more restrictive rules. This is shown by an internal paper reported by Contexte.
The criteria for “Made in Europe” should remain narrowly defined. Trading partners with free trade agreements should be treated equally, provided they also open their markets. For steel and aluminium, which are already subject to CO2 requirements, the MEPs reject additional origin thresholds.
They also reject a binding industrial target of 20 per cent of GDP by 2035. We are very positively surprised by these demands from the German EPP MEPs and expressly welcome them. We would like to see the same level of insight on other issues as well.
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