Part the manufacturers of products that make our lives simpler - including lighting, information technologies, appliances - were represented at the “Product Policy Framework Lunch Debate”, which took place on 13 November at European Parliament in Brussels. During the event, participants discussed the role of these sectors in the European Union's ambitions for the implementation of a circular economy, and in meeting targets in terms of CO2 emissions.
Maria da Graça Carvalho co-organized the event, together with the three major European associations in these sectors, representing hundreds of thousands of jobs and large tens of millions of euros in annual turnover: APPLiA, Digital Europe and Lighting Europe.
For Maria da Graça Carvalho, “supporting the circular economy, the so-called 'reuse revolution', through the reuse or transformation into new products, will be decisive for us to reach our environmental goals, preserving our current way of life as much as possible”.
Furthermore, she argued that it could be “an important factor in decentralizing society, by providing new opportunities for entrepreneurs in the less populated regions, by creating new industries and by generating jobs”.
Graça Carvalho reminded that we are currently at the beginning of a new legislative cycle, in which “important decisions will be made, namely in relation to the product lifecycles”. And she considered "an excellent sign the fact that manufacturers are actively committed to contribute to the definition and implementation of ambitious practices in this matter".