Alexandra MEHNERT

Policy topics Alexandra MEHNERT is active on

What Alexandra MEHNERT has said (6)

• 2026-07-07 “Thank you very much, Madam President. We're talking about an agreement today that we have spent a long time working on. We. Have had that agreement signed since the 22nd of May. It is more than just a technical agreement. It is a clear signal. About our partnership. It is very positive for the SMEs in Europe, the very companies that need that signal. Less red tape, less customs duties, less waiting time at the border, less paperwork to export. We are Living in a time when supply chains are more difficult, partners are less reliable. So it is all the more important that we have this partner in Mexico that we have been working very well with for over 25 years. There around 40,000 companies, the majority of them SMEs, who are going to benefit from this agreement through simplified customs procedures and investment rules and protection of denomination of origin. We are opening up our market markets without dropping our standards, our labour laws, our environmental standards. It is important that we look at rule of law and the building institutions in Mexico. That is important. I am pleased that we can vote on this, and I look forward to everyone voting in favour. Thank you.”
  Free trade agreements (FTAs)
• 2025-02-26 “P-000856/2025 Answer given by Ms Roswall on behalf of the European Commission Article 8(4) of the Single-Use Plastics (SUP) Directive 1 requires the Commission, in consultation with Member States, to publish guidelines on the criteria for calculating the costs of cleaning up litter caused by these products, and their subsequent transport and treatment. This is part of the SUP Directive's measures aimed at reducing the environmental and health impacts of unsustainable plastic use. The draft guidelines have been developed after discussions with Member States in the Committee for the adaptation to scientific and technical progress and the implementation of the Directive on waste 2 , during meetings held in 2023 and 2024. The Commission is planning the adoption for 2025. The Commission will evaluate the SUP Directive by 3 July 2027, to assess how well its objectives have been met and the effectiveness of its measures, including their implementation across Member States. Part of this evaluation will focus on assessing the administrative burden for businesses and exploring opportunities for simplification. The Commission does not have evidence of the same packaging being charged for more than once under parallel recycling schemes but would welcome further evidence on this matter. 1 Directive (EU) 2019/904 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic products on the environment, OJ L 155, 12.6.2019, p. 1–19. 2 Committee established under Article 39 of Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 on waste and repealing certain Directives, OJ L 312, 22.11.2008, p. 3–30, as amended by Directive (EU) 2018/851 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May, OJ L 150, 14.6.2018, p. 109–140.”
  Sustainable packaging · Circular economy · EU policy towards plastics
• “Thank you very much. Colleagues, the goal here is to have unified regulation for authorisation documents for vehicles. And here the conditions need to be developed in order to ensure that we can digitalise these documents and ensure exchange of information between the Member States. There are 154 amendments here. The devil is in the detail, and I think we need to ensure that we're not creating too much bureaucracy here. The digitalization of the vehicle papers needs to be needs to make citizens lives more easy, not harder. So here I think we need to ensure that we do have simplification, but that we can also ensure that we can have better traceability with, for example, tracing of criminal activity. I think this is something which we can do by bringing this into line with other regulations and creating, trying to create no additional bureaucracy for our citizens. So there are a few questions here that remain to be clarified. Firstly, the data that is going to be saved on vehicle owners and vehicle holders. This is something which has been covered differently in different member states in the past. And so we need to ensure that we can get a good balance. And we also have to ensure that we're only saving information where that information actually provides added value. And I think this is a decision which should be up to the member states. In the next few weeks, we're going to be discussing this, and I'd like to thank the colleagues in advance very much for their support. Thank you.”
  Roadworthiness / Periodic Vehicle Inspection directive
• “Thank you very much. I'm going to speak in German. So. Dear colleagues, in my view, the end of life vehicle regulation has three significant facets. First, the proposal is a major step towards a more circular economy. Action. Circular economy. On the face of it, is a pure sustainability project. But in fact it is more than that. We need the circular economy in order to protect our economy. It entails more strategic independence with more value being created in the EU. The circular economy enables us to provide for a larger share of our raw material needs, ourselves Cells being recycled out of used vehicles. And in addition, this proposal creates good conditions for SMEs. Because while vehicles are manufactured by big firms, they are disassembled and recycled by SMEs. The consequence is the better the rules for recycling are, the more SMEs profit therefrom. But now on to the most important aspect. This regulation must constitute a genuine simplification of the status quo. It must not lead to becoming a burden. Hitherto, the recycling of vehicles was addressed in several laws which are now being merged, which is in itself a major improvement. And future one single regulation will cover the whole life cycle of vehicles, their authorization, sale, use through to recycling.”
  Overall simplification of regulation in the EU
• “President. Cohesion policy is an important instrument to support regions which have different cultures and which have diversity. It's also a question of the legitimacy of the EU, and promoting that cohesion policy also helps rural areas. If we look at today's challenges, particularly in rural areas, then we're dealing with a lack of skilled workers and generational renewal and rural exodus. So there we need to provide support, particularly in places such as Saxony-Anhalt, which has transformed over the years. But the same applies to cross border regions. They deserve support. What's clear is that we need to look at the division of funds, and the regions must be able to decide on how they spend their money. It's only at local level that we have insight and experience on where the money should be spent, where it's urgently needed. So let's continue to have a policy that is in favour of the regions. If we have Europe, it's thanks to the diversity of the different regions. Regional decision making on cohesion policy must not be done away with, because it would mean that we won't have acceptance of Europe in people's hearts. Thank you.”
  EU cohesion/structural-fund architecture: consolidation vs ring-fenced separate funds
• “Thank you. I welcome the commission's proposal for the automotive omnibus. At this point in time, it is going through a huge transition in the industry, high energy prices, increasing global competitiveness and lots of new, regulations. And that's why I think we need to go to simplification and make sure that everything is implementable for industry. As the EPP, there are 2 points that are key, I think. First of all, reducing the utility factor, we reject. Plug in hybrids can contribute to reducing c o 2 and allow lots of people to get into to buy an e car. So instead of, I think we should be improving framework conditions here. We need, greater, infrastructure. We need to bring, fuel prices down, electricity prices down, and we have to make sure that electric mobility is affordable. Will you propose commission super credits for these smaller cars? I think that's a good incentive. And therefore, we should think further and look at what what what else we could cover that with. Will any big year successful if we allow to everybody?”
  Powertrain choice: EV-only pathway vs. equal support for hybrids, e-fuels, H2 · Road transport environmental policy