Agriculture Minister Maria Panayiotou will participate in the EU Environment Ministers Council in Brussels, while she will also meet with European Commissioners, and chair preparatory meetings in view of the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the EU in the first half of 2026.

The minister will hold meetings with EU Commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy, Jessika Roswall, as well as with EU Commissioner for Climate Action, Net Zero Emissions and Clean Growth, Wopke Hoekstra.

According to a press release, the meetings will focus on challenges related to environmental protection, the circular economy and tackling climate change.

During the Environment Council, which will take place on Tuesday, environment ministers will be invited to reach a general approach on the regulation on the prevention of losses of plastic granules so as to reduce microplastic pollution.

There will also be a policy debate on the proposed regulation on circularity requirements for vehicle design and end-of-life management. The regulation aims to enhance sustainability and circularity in the automotive sector, the press release says.

Moreover, the Hungarian Presidency, together with the Commission, will inform Ministers on the outcome of a series of conferences, such as COP29 on climate change, COP16 on biodiversity, the 5th round of negotiations on the global plastics treaty and COP16 to combat desertification.

Ministers will exchange views on the recent Commission Communication on the EU 2040 climate target, published on the 6th of February 2024, which sets a target of reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by 90 per cent by 2040 compared to 1990 levels.