Italian MP’s complaint: “Plastic lobby has become unsustainable”

Unsustainable pressure from lobbies due to plenary vote on packaging regulation. Maria Angela Danzì, a member of the European Parliament for the 5 Star Movement, complained while speaking about the situation in Brussels ahead of the expected vote on the rules next week. “The pressure from lobbies in the European Parliament to regulate packaging has crossed the line. Despite the new and stricter rules established in the wake of the Qatargate scandal, we MPs have been constantly approached by lobbyists in the corridors in recent days at meetings in the bar,” Danzì wrote in a note. “They even hung more than 1,500 advertising posters on the doors of all our offices to encourage lobbying against the new rules on reuse and recycling of packaging, which will be voted on in the plenary next week,” the European parliamentarian said.

Those who oppose the regulation

The new packaging regulation, which aims to improve the entire recycling chain and reduce useless containers, was proposed by the European Commission last November and will have to be voted on at next week’s session in Strasbourg from 20 to 24 November. The Italian government opposed the law with the support of the plastic and paper industry, which is quite strong in Italy, considering the presence of hundreds of companies in the sector. Among these, we remember, for example, the Seda Group, which was founded in 1964 in Arzano, Naples, and today operates in Germany, Spain, England and the United States. The group’s chairman and director is Antonio D’Amato, former chairman of Confindustria from 2000 to 2004.

Confindustria was the first company to react negatively to the proposals included in the regulation, especially regarding reuse and security deposits. Agri-food confederations, which have been harshly criticizing the regulation for months and trying to weaken it, also oppose the law. The main reasons cited by critics are hygiene, health and job losses. Another front opposing the law is fast foodespecially by US giant McDonald’s, which fears having to give up the huge amounts of disposable containers required for its catering system.

Transparency obligations

Lobbying efforts have been going on for months, with the proliferation of meetings supported by the companies mentioned above. This situation intensified in the final weeks before the vote. “I find it ridiculous that just ten days ago the MPs who called for a ceasefire in Gaza were photographed by the security of the European Parliament, and today no one knows who and how inside the institutions is spreading biased and biased leaflets,” Danzì wrote. The MEP then recalled the obligation of MEPs to “communicate meetings with stakeholders in a transparent manner”, underlining that “these approaches cannot be a way to get around these rules”. Five Star Policy announced that the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, would be asked to intervene and open an internal investigation “to shed full light on these activities.”