German EU candidate proposes global ban on single-use plastics

Manfred Weber, Germany’s conservative candidate for EU parliamentary elections, plans to propose a global treaty that will ban all single-use plastics.

In an interview with German newspaper Bild am Sonntag, Weber said his proposal is part of a 12-point plan that the centre-right candidate will announce in Athens later this week as part of his campaign program.

Weber is the current parliamentary leader of the European People’s Party (EPP) in the EU Parliament and is affiliated with Angela Merkel’s Christian democratic CDU party and its sister Bavarian party CSU.

“We have just banned single-use plastics in the EU, but that is not enough,” Weber said. “If we don’t globally act quickly and decisively against the polluting of seas through plastic, the next generation will face immense problems. I will propose a global treaty to ban single-use plastics.”

Weber’s campaign platform also has a plan to tackle youth unemployment within the bloc and to beef up the European Border and Coast Guard with at least 10,000 more border guards by 2022.

The European elections will take place from May 23 to 26 2019. Weber wants to succeed Jean-Claude Juncker as president of the European Commission.