BRUSSELS, September 3 — European Commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy Jessika Roswall met with 16 young people in Brussels on Monday, 31 August, to receive their recommendations on the upcoming Circular Economy Act. The meeting was part of the Commission’s Youth Check participatory process launched earlier in 2025 to ensure youth views guide the flagship initiative.
The young participants, coordinated by youth organisations Academics for Circular Economy (ACE) and Generation Climate Europe (GCE), presented a Youth Position Paper developed since an initial exchange at the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform annual conference in April. The group called for a Circular Economy Act that goes beyond waste management to focus on using resources more efficiently, making products easier to repair and reuse, ensuring safe high-quality secondary materials, keeping the transition affordable and fair, investing in circular skills, and maintaining meaningful youth involvement throughout implementation.
Commissioner Roswall said: “Young people are not only stakeholders in Europe’s circular transition; they are essential partners in shaping it. We need young people to voice their ideas and be part of the change that will make Europe’s circular economy a reality. I am happy to receive their ambitious recommendations today, which will help inform our work as we prepare the Circular Economy Act.” Youth representatives from GCE and ACE said: “In the last few months we have seen what effective and tangible youth input can look like in policy-making.
We appreciate the opportunity to openly share our recommendations with Commissioner Roswall and DG Environment to shape the Circular Economy Act. This is a significant step forward for meaningful youth participation in environmental policy.
The Act will set the framework for a future that we, as young people, will feel the effect of, and we are ready to continue contributing to it with our ideas.” The CEA, due to be adopted before the end of 2026, aims to accelerate the transition to a more circular economy, increasing the EU’s economic security, resilience, competitiveness and decarbonisation.
It is intended to improve the business case for circularity by facilitating the cross-border movement of recycled products, materials and waste across Europe, and to increase supply of and demand for high-quality recycled materials in the EU. The Youth Check combined a targeted online consultation of young people aged 15 to 29, a dedicated youth session at the ECESP Annual Conference, and additional exchanges with youth stakeholders. The Youth Position Paper will inform the Impact Assessment prepared for the CEA under the Commission’s Better Regulation Guidelines.
