Kids’ birthday parties will have to be celebrated without balloons on plastic sticks if the European Commission gets its way.

According to a draft legislative proposal obtained by POLITICO, the EU aims to ban straws, cutlery, plates and balloon sticks made of plastic as it seeks to reduce plastics polluting the environment, especially in oceans and on beaches.

The Commission chose to ban these items because “readily available alternatives” exist, according to the document underpinning the legislative proposal.

"Nobody wants to see plastics in the environment and in the oceans, but I think it needs to be thought through," said Suteesh Chumber, operations manager of the European Balloon and Party Council.

Chumber said banning plastic balloon sticks will mean balloons would need to be handled on strings, which is less safe for children.

The Commission seeks a "significant reduction" in the consumption of use-and-dispose takeaway food containers and throwaway cups.

"You are taking away an element of the experience from children here," he said.

Revealing plans for the Plastics Strategy in January, the EU executive promised to focus on the most frequently littered items, which also include food containers, food wrappers, plastic bottles, cups and lids, cigarette filters, lightweight plastic bags, wet wipes, sanitary pads and tampons, and balloons.

For these items, as well as for fishing gear, the Commission plans to make producers pay for the cost of collection, transport and end-of-life treatment, as well as for the cost of cleaning up marine litter and of awareness campaigns against littering, according to the draft proposal.

Additionally, these will have to be labeled to inform consumers of the available recycling options and of the impact littering has on the environment and the sea.

The Commission would not comment on the draft document, but a spokesperson did say: "The aim is not simply to propose the restriction of the use of specific products, but to propose a set of measures to encourage better disposal of single-use plastic items and encourage the European industry to contribute to their clean up and recycling costs," adding that restrictions on products will only be considered if there are widely available alternatives.

National reduction targets

The Commission is asking EU countries to achieve a "significant reduction" in the consumption of use-and-dispose takeaway food containers and throwaway cups within six years after the proposal is written into national law.

Countries may do so by setting nationwide consumption reduction targets, by having a minimum target for reusable food containers and cups put on the market, or by charging consumers at the retail level, the proposal says.

The Commission will also require EU countries to collect 90 percent of single-use plastic bottles put on the market each year by 2025. They can either set up deposit return schemes — where consumers get a small fee back when they dispose of their empty bottles correctly — or have producers pay for the cost of collection.

Bottles and drink cartons will also have to be redesigned for screw tops to be latched on to the rest of the container, in order not to lose the lid.

Business worries

The specter of a ban on some plastic items has been worrying businesses for months, with industry saying the focus should be on educating the public against the irresponsible use of plastic instead of targeting certain items.

“Marine litter is a major problem and it must be tackled. But product bans are not the solution," said Eamonn Bates of Pack2Go, Europe's lobby for takeaway food packaging.

"This Commission is simply looking for a few 'fall guys' for the press headlines rather than action based on evidence. For sure, producers must take their share of responsibility in effecting change, but making them pay for marine litter clean-up is an easy way out for this Commission," Bates said.

The Commission has an ongoing voluntary pledging campaign to increase the content of recycled plastics in new products. Businesses warned that putting pressure on producers with a ban and extending the scope of producers' responsibility to littered items will discourage them to engage with the voluntary campaign.

“We are concerned about some very far-reaching proposals," said Alexandre Affre, director of industrial affairs at BusinessEurope, the lobby for national business federations in Brussels. "Rather than a ban, it is better to focus on the current voluntary pledging campaign to make plastics more circular."

The Commission's proposal may also have some unintended impacts on women's wallets if producers of female sanitary products choose to pass down the cost to consumers.

Catriona Graham, policy and campaigns officer at the European Women's Lobby, said policy must strike a "hard balance" between women’s economics and environmentalism.

"Women are increasingly moving toward healthier, more sustainable options like the cup and reusable pads. However, these are not always feasible options for women, and costs for single-use supplies are already high," Graham said. "Companies producing single-use period products with plastic should absorb any additional fees until they develop more environmentally friendly materials."

But green groups, which have been pushing for ambitious proposals, are ecstatic.

"The Commission has understood the problem, and is introducing measures which we fully support," said Ariadna Rodrigo on behalf of the Rethink Plastics Alliance, a coalition of NGOs active on marine pollution. "Given the scale and the urgency of the plastic pollution crisis, we now look forward to the publication and implementation of this proposal and a sea free of plastic pollution."

The proposal is due to be tabled by the end of May, Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans said on Thursday.

This articles has been updated with a statement from the European Commission.