BRUSSELS (March 28, 11 a.m. ET) — The European Commission appears ready to recommend a fee on single-use carrier bags.
A Green Paper is expected next month that will lay out the details of the plan. The proposal to charge for all carrier bags could be law within two years, claim insiders.
The EC, which carried out a three-month a public consultation last year, dismissed the idea of a total ban because of the damage it could do to Europe's 300-odd bag manufacturers and their 20,000 employees. There were also concerns about the potential legality of an outright ban.
