The European Parliament's standing committees are steering an ambitious legislative programme into its decisive phase, with the Waste Framework Directive's new textile and food waste provisions, strategic amendments to the ERDF and Cohesion Fund, the annual CSDP defence review, modernisation of Eurojust's case management system, and recalibrated agricultural tariff-rate quotas all advancing through the pipeline. This analysis draws on adopted texts, committee effectiveness data, and legislative pipeline intelligence from the EP Open Data Portal to assess the output and direction of five key committees—ENVI, ECON, AFET, LIBE and AGRI—during the 10th parliamentary term.
Committee Activity Overview
All five featured committees maintain high workload intensity, each managing upwards of 100 active legislative files across the current parliamentary term. ENVI, ECON, AFET and LIBE each delivered 2 formal opinions during the review period, contributing to cross-committee legislative coordination on files that span multiple policy domains. Committee effectiveness scores remain at the DEVELOPING rank, with a 20% committee coverage rate—a reflection of the breadth of dossiers each body must process rather than a measure of individual productivity. The legislative pipeline shows sustained forward movement, with the majority of active procedures progressing through committee stage toward plenary consideration.
Thematic Analysis by Committee
ENVI: Environment, Public Health and Food Safety
ENVI has advanced two of the Parliament's most structurally significant environmental files this term. The revised Waste Framework Directive addressing textiles and food waste (TA-10-2025-0167) introduces binding reduction targets for textile waste generation and establishes a new extended producer responsibility scheme for fashion and apparel—a direct regulatory response to the 5.8 million tonnes of textile waste generated annually across the EU. The common data platform on chemicals (TA-10-2025-0045) creates a unified monitoring and outlook framework, consolidating fragmented national databases into a single European surveillance system for hazardous substances. Together, these files represent ENVI's push to operationalise the circular economy and chemicals strategy through concrete legislative instruments.
Key Adopted Texts
- TA-10-2025-0167: Waste Framework Directive: textiles and food waste
- TA-10-2025-0045: Common data platform on chemicals, establishing a monitoring and outlook framework for chemicals
- TA-10-2025-0064: Amending Directives on corporate sustainability reporting and due diligence date requirements
ECON: Economic and Monetary Affairs
ECON's legislative footprint this term is defined by the intersection of fiscal modernisation and structural investment. The amendments to the ERDF, Cohesion Fund and Just Transition Fund (TA-10-2025-0177) introduce specific measures addressing strategic dependencies in European supply chains, allowing member states to redirect cohesion funding toward critical raw materials, semiconductor manufacturing and defence-related infrastructure—a notable departure from the funds' traditional regional development mandate. Meanwhile, the VAT digital age package (TA-10-2025-0012) and enhanced administrative cooperation in taxation (TA-10-2025-0013) continue their legislative journey, with the Commission estimating that mandatory digital reporting could recover up to €60 billion in annual VAT losses. The EIB financial oversight report (TA-10-2025-0076) provides parliamentary scrutiny of the bank's €65 billion annual lending portfolio.
Key Adopted Texts
- TA-10-2025-0177: Amending ERDF, Cohesion Fund and Just Transition Fund as regards specific measures to address strategic dependencies
- TA-10-2025-0012: VAT: rules for the digital age
- TA-10-2025-0013: Administrative cooperation in the field of taxation
- TA-10-2025-0076: Control of the financial activities of the European Investment Bank – annual report 2023
AFET: Foreign Affairs
AFET continues to process an extraordinary volume of resolutions reflecting the geopolitical pressures on the EU's external action. The annual CSDP implementation report (TA-10-2025-0058) offers the Parliament's most comprehensive assessment of European defence capabilities, with particular focus on the European Defence Fund and the need to close identified capability gaps in air defence, strategic mobility and cyber operations. Enlargement policy remains a central pillar: country reports on Türkiye (TA-10-2025-0092) and Serbia (TA-10-2025-0093) set detailed benchmarks for accession progress, while the Moldova Reform and Growth Facility (TA-10-2025-0022) and macro-financial assistance to Jordan (TA-10-2025-0048) deploy financial instruments as strategic foreign policy tools. Human rights resolutions on Iran (TA-10-2025-0004, TA-10-2025-0062), Azerbaijan (TA-10-2025-0038) and Rwanda (TA-10-2025-0193) underscore the Parliament's role as Europe's most vocal institutional advocate for individual freedoms.
Key Adopted Texts
- TA-10-2025-0058: Implementation of the common security and defence policy – annual report 2024
- TA-10-2025-0022: Establishing the Reform and Growth Facility for the Republic of Moldova
- TA-10-2025-0092: 2023 and 2024 reports on Türkiye
- TA-10-2025-0093: 2023 and 2024 reports on Serbia
- TA-10-2025-0004: Systematic repression of human rights in Iran
- TA-10-2025-0193: Case of Victoire Ingabire in Rwanda
LIBE: Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs
LIBE's agenda this term centres on strengthening the EU's judicial cooperation infrastructure. The extension of the timeframe for Eurojust's case management system (TA-10-2025-0181) acknowledges the technical complexity of replacing legacy databases with a modern, interoperable platform capable of handling the growing volume of cross-border criminal cases. The committee's work on the Eurojust cooperation agreement with Bosnia and Herzegovina (TA-10-2025-0055) builds the judicial architecture needed as the Western Balkans advance toward EU accession. LIBE's intersection with AFET on human rights—particularly resolutions on the prosecution of journalists in Cameroon (TA-10-2025-0061) and cases in Dubai (TA-10-2025-0161)—reflects the committee's expanding mandate as the Parliament's primary voice on individual rights beyond EU borders.
Key Adopted Texts
- TA-10-2025-0181: Extension of the timeframe for the establishment of the Eurojust case management system
- TA-10-2025-0055: EU-Bosnia and Herzegovina Agreement: cooperation between Eurojust and the authorities of BiH
- TA-10-2025-0061: Prosecution of journalists in Cameroon
- TA-10-2025-0161: Case of Ryan Cornelius in Dubai
AGRI: Agriculture and Rural Development
AGRI's focus remains on trade adjustments and market access recalibration in the post-Brexit landscape. The EU-Norway agreement on tariff-rate quotas (TA-10-2025-0029) restructures agricultural market concessions disrupted by the UK's departure from the EU customs union, with direct implications for dairy, seafood and processed food trade flows between the EU-27 and EEA. The modification of customs duties on imports from certain origins (TA-10-2025-0109) further adjusts the EU's external agricultural trade framework. The committee has also engaged with the BRIDGEforEU border regions instrument (TA-10-2025-0070), recognising the particular challenges faced by rural communities along the EU's internal and external borders.
Key Adopted Texts
- TA-10-2025-0029: EU-Norway Agreement: modification of concessions on all the tariff-rate quotas as a consequence of the UK's withdrawal
- TA-10-2025-0109: Modification of customs duties applicable to imports of certain goods originating in or exported from specific countries
- TA-10-2025-0070: Border Regions' instrument for development and growth (BRIDGEforEU)
Strategic Context
Three structural dynamics emerge from the current committee output. First, the convergence of environmental and industrial policy: ENVI's textile waste regulation and ECON's cohesion fund amendments both respond to the EU's strategic autonomy imperative, embedding supply-chain resilience objectives into previously siloed policy instruments. Second, the securitisation of the EU budget is visible in the ERDF amendments (TA-10-2025-0177) permitting defence-related cohesion spending—a politically significant expansion of what structural funds may finance. Third, AFET and LIBE's overlapping human rights work, now spanning Iran, Azerbaijan, Cameroon, Rwanda and Dubai, signals a Parliament that is increasingly operating as a systematic human rights monitoring body, not merely a reactive one. These trends suggest the 10th term will be defined by the integration of security, environmental and fiscal policy streams that previous parliaments treated as distinct domains.
Stakeholder Impact
For the textiles and fashion industry, the Waste Framework Directive amendments (TA-10-2025-0167) will require new extended producer responsibility schemes and waste reduction reporting across all 27 member states. Chemical manufacturers face consolidated surveillance under ENVI's data platform (TA-10-2025-0045). Regional governments should note the expanded scope of cohesion fund amendments (TA-10-2025-0177), which may redirect investment toward semiconductor, critical raw materials and defence manufacturing capacity. Agricultural exporters trading with Norway must adjust to revised tariff quotas (TA-10-2025-0029). Justice ministries in EU accession candidate states—particularly Bosnia and Herzegovina—should prepare for enhanced Eurojust cooperation requirements. Civil society organisations monitoring human rights will find new leverage in the Parliament's resolutions on Iran, Rwanda and press freedom in Cameroon.
What Happens Next
The Waste Framework Directive textile provisions (TA-10-2025-0167) now enter trilogue negotiations with the Council, with a provisional agreement targeted for summer 2026. The cohesion fund amendments (TA-10-2025-0177) require Council adoption before member states can begin reprogramming structural funds toward strategic dependencies. The CSDP implementation report (TA-10-2025-0058) feeds directly into the March European Council's defence spending discussion, where heads of state will consider new spending targets beyond the 2% GDP benchmark. Eurojust's case management system extension (TA-10-2025-0181) gives the agency additional time to complete its digital transformation, with the new system expected to be operational by 2027. The Moldova Reform and Growth Facility (TA-10-2025-0022) is on track for entry into force by Q3 2026.
Methodology
This report is generated from live data retrieved via the European Parliament MCP Server, covering adopted texts (TA-10-2025 series), committee activity analysis for ENVI, ECON, AFET, LIBE and AGRI, legislative effectiveness scoring, and pipeline monitoring. Data source: European Parliament Open Data Portal. Committee effectiveness uses multi-factor scoring with peer benchmarking across productivity, quality and impact dimensions.