One Europe - One Market: A Call to Embed Competitiveness as a Core Policymaking Principle

"As FPE's new president, I take office with a clear conviction: We must now focus on policies that strengthen our European industry." – Michele Bianchi, CEO of RDM Group and newly elected president of FPE.

PaperAge editor's note: The following is an industry statement by Fibre Packaging Europe.

March 18, 2026 - Fibre Packaging Europe (FPE), a coalition of seven trade associations spanning the fibre packaging value chain and representing 1500 companies with 2200 industrial facilities in Europe, stands behind the EU's continued efforts to create a more sustainable and circular European economy. The Clean Industrial Deal set a first roadmap of how to achieve this objective and simultaneously maintain Europe's industrial base — by creating a business case for low-carbon and circular production in Europe. To ensure success, all future policies and the implementation of existing legislation should be directed towards this objective.

Michele Bianchi, CEO of RDM Group and newly elected president of FPE commented, "As FPE's new president, I take office with a clear conviction: We must now focus on policies that strengthen our European industry. With this in mind and in the context of the roadmap on 'One Europe - One Market' to be presented by the European Commission to EU leaders, FPE asks to consistently embed competitiveness and Single Market considerations across all EU policies and supportive initiatives."

Packaging plays a vital role in ensuring that products, such as food, beverages, medicine, and appliances can move safely, efficiently, and competitively across borders within the Single Market. As recognised in the 2025 Single Market Strategy, fragmented rules on packaging are one of the 'Terrible Ten' barriers to a complete common EU market.

Even non-legislative initiatives, labelled as 'technical', have the power of crippling the Single Market, the power of making or breaking the case for a competitive European industry. In this context, Michele Bianchi added, "With only six months remaining until the application of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), our companies and customers require clear and reliable guidance on how complex provisions are to be interpreted."

It is vital that the Commission's guidance respects the will of the co-legislators and the PPWR legal framework, refraining from attempts to introduce requirements beyond the Regulation's scope or to encourage diverging national measures that would distort rather than strengthen our Single Market.

FPE will continue to support the PPWR's vision and ambition, with the objective to help prevent regulatory overlaps, legal uncertainty, and administrative as well as technical barriers that undermine investments, innovation, and growth.

In the PPWR implementation and in future initiatives, such as the Circular Economy Act, we call on policymakers to prioritise measures that reinforce Europe's industrial base and:

Eliminate barriers to circularity and the Single Market for waste and for fibre-based food contact materials:

Harmonise extended producer responsibility (EPR) rules across the EU, setting efficient industry-led Producer Responsibility Organisations, and upholding transparent rules on fees based on the net cost principle. This means that fees should cover only the actual costs of collecting, sorting, and recycling packaging. Revenues generated from the sale of secondary raw materials must be deducted to ensure that fees remain fair and proportionate.
Ensure consistency in EU policy making and avoid misalignment among EU laws that risk policy fragmentation. A 'Better regulation' approach should identify unclear overlaps, gaps and contradictions among various EU regulations to ensure a simplified, clear and coherent body of EU law.
Create harmonised measures for fibre-based food contact materials when revising the Food Contact Materials Regulation. This measure, which our industry has been calling for decades, is crucial to create a level playing field for sustainable bio-based materials and strengthen the Single Market.

Support innovative, bio-based solutions that reduce environmental impact:

Sustainably sourced renewable materials, such as fibre-based packaging, are inherently circular and in practice recycled at a high rate. Recognise bio-based content as circular input, similarly with recycled content, in the upcoming Circular Economy Act.

Strengthen recycling by implementing separate collection of municipal waste 1, which is essential for circularity:

Set national mandatory separate collection targets, because great recycling starts with great collection.

Supporting 710,000 jobs and generating over EUR 110 billion annually on our continent, we stand with Europe as a cornerstone of European competitiveness, growth, and social stability, especially in rural areas.

We call on policymakers to work with industry realities and not against them. We remain ready to collaborate with the institutions and stakeholders, so that together, we can ensure a competitive and sustainable packaging market for our Union, preserving a strong industrial base for the future.

About Fibre Packaging Europe

Fibre Packaging Europe is an informal packaging coalition of seven trade associations representing industries involved in forestry, pulp, paper, board and carton production and recycling from across Europe. Our joint mission is to provide renewable, circular and sustainable fibre-based packaging solutions to European citizens to achieve the European Green Deal objectives.

SOURCE: Fibre Packaging Europe