Wrapping up our breakfast series: Towards the Circular Economy Act

On 16 December 2025, we wrapped up our breakfast series: Towards the Circular Economy Act. This third and final session, “What’s needed? Solutions for the CEA”, focused on priorities for a fit-for-purpose Circular Economy Act, looking into ways to scale up circularity, avoid regulatory overlaps, strengthen the Single Market and ensure a global level playing field. Discussions highlighted the importance of harmonised End-of-Waste criteria, more coherent EPR schemes and demand-side measures to create a well-functioning market for secondary raw materials.

The second workshop, held on 25 November 2025, focused on “What’s missing? The remaining challenges and barriers”. While several EU policies already support circularity, businesses still face major obstacles when shifting from linear to circular models. This workshop explored what is still missing in the current EU framework and how barriers such as price structures, market fragmentation, and EPR scheme implementation remain key factors that make the transition challenging.

We kicked off the series on 4 November 2025, with a first breakfast workshop on “What’s there already? EU policy and market impacts. The discussion brought together key experts to explore how current EU policies are driving (or constraining) the transition to a more circular economy, and what this means for businesses and markets. The debate provided valuable insights into existing frameworks and set the scene for the next steps towards a future Circular Economy Act expected in 2026.

BusinessEurope looks forward to contributing to a Circular Economy Act that drives circularity while ensuring Europe’s businesses can remain competitive and innovative.

A big thank you to all speakers and moderators!