Background

On 30 March 2022, the European Commission published its proposal for the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR). The Council adopted its negotiating position on 15 May 2023; the Parliament on 12 July 2023. Negotiations have proceeded in the past 4-5 months. The co-legislators have now found a provisional deal.

Major provisions

The ESPR will replace the current Ecodesign Directive and extend its scope to all products.

It aims to regulate all lifecycle environmental impacts, not just energy performance. This might include setting carbon or environmental footprint requirements for some products.

It further aims to make products last longer, easier to repair and recycle, contain fewer substances of concern, and include more recycled content.

The ESPR also bans the destruction of certain types of unsold consumer products, including textiles and footwear. The Commission will be empowered to introduce new bans for the destruction of other unsold products by delegated acts.

The ESPR would require disclosing some product information to consumers and recyclers through a Digital Product Passport (DPP). The DPP would be a standardised but decentralized way to give instant access to product information through a data carrier affixed on the product, like a QR code or bar code. What information will be required in the DPP is yet to be defined in product-specific delegated acts. It might vary from product to product.

The ESPR is a framework regulation. Detailed requirements for specific products will still have to be implemented through delegated acts.

First product priorities

The first products to be targeted for delegated acts will be defined in the first ESPR working plan. The Commission held a public consultation in the first half of 2023 to gather input on what would be good first priorities. The report should become available in Q1 2024, probably after publication of the ESPR. So far, the focus seems to be on textiles, garments, footwear, furniture, mattresses, iron, steel, aluminium, tyres, paints, lubricants, chemicals, ICT products and other consumer electronics.

Energy-related products already regulated under the current Ecodesign Directive will continue to be reviewed, but according to a separate working plan.

Next steps

With the big political questions resolved, there is still some work to be done at technical level to settle minor provisions in the legal text. After that, the provisional legal text should become available. This might still take a few weeks.

If endorsed by Council and Parliament, the deal will then be translated into all EU languages, formally adopted, and published in the Official Journal of the EU.

Additional information

See the public announcements of the Council of the EU and European Commission.

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Topics under negotiation

After the Council adopted its general approach on 22 May and the Parliament adopted its report on 12 July, the co-legislators entered trilogue negotiations on the file. The first meeting took place on 30 August, and the second was postponed from 10 October to 30 November.

What has been reported so far is that the negotiations are progressing well, and the main contentious points are:

• the obligations of online markets,
• the role of market surveillance in controlling harmonised standards, and
• the centralised vs de-centralised concept of the Digital Product Passport.

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Short summary

On 24 October 2024, the public consultation on the draft implementing regulation laying down operational details for the EPREL product database was opened on the “Have Your Say” webpage.

This initiative aims to set requirements for the functioning of the European Product Registry for Energy Labelling (EPREL) system, managing the product database for products covered by the Labelling Regulation (EU) 2017/1369, in particular related to:

• Electronic verification process of suppliers and conditions for registering products in the database
• Format of the information to be entered in the database
• Nature of complementary content to describe product models

Verification

Only suppliers having successfully completed the verification process may register product models in EPREL and perform any modification relating to existing ones. Legal entities shall submit evidence of their identity and of their establishment within the Union, by means of a qualified electronic seal supported by a certificate for electronic seal, while natural persons shall submit evidence of their identity by means of a qualified electronic signature.

Unverified suppliers

Models registered in EPREL by entities still not verified at the date of application shall be considered as not legally placed on the Union market and shall not be listed in the public EPREL system.

Positions and actions

Interested Members are invited to assess the draft text and provide their feedback to the Commission. ProdBIM, in the person of Ms Sandrine Marinhas, will also assess the document to develop feedback on behalf of Eurovent, members are therefore invited to share their views through the Eurovent Secretariat.

Timeline

The draft Regulation is open for feedbacks for 4 weeks, until 21 November 2023.

Additional resources

• Draft Act
• Have Your Say webpage

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Short summary

The first stakeholder meeting on the Ecodesign preparatory study for product specific measures on scarce, environmentally relevant and critical raw materials and on recycled content, took place on 19 October 2023.

The study aims at investigating in more details, the materials and products that could be subject to Ecodesign (ED) and Energy Labelling (EL) measures, what could be their technical, economic, environmental and social impacts, and what policy options could be used.

Key takeaways from the kick-off meeting

Key takeaways from the kick-off meeting are summarised below:

• If the findings are appropriate, the contractors will also draft working documents, including draft ED and EL regulations.
• The first phase of the study will identify the products and materials to be proposed for further study.
• The second phase of the study will focus on the identified products via five mini-ED studies; then the consultants will prepare draft working documents and hold a stakeholder consultation.
• Methodology for the five mini-ED studies: revised MEErP  (ESPR will not be considered).
• First exploratory results:
  • Very low score: Circulators and water pumps.
  • Very high score: Heating and cooling units, refrigeration units, cooking appliances, washing machines, dishwashers, vacuum cleaners, electronic displays, photo voltaic panels, servers and data storage, computers, imaging equipment and motors (0.12 – 1000 kW), utility transformers.
• First critical raw materials results:
  • Very low score: Non-solid local heaters, circulators, game consoles, (empty) cartridges and containers, products regulated only for standby, professional refrigeration and water pumps.
  • Very high score: Solid fuel local heaters, light sources, electronic displays, servers and data storage products, personal computers, imaging equipment, phones and tablets, refrigerators, cooking appliances, electric motors and photovoltaic panels and inverters.

Positions and actions

Eurovent will monitor the study’s development especially in view of possible new approaches which might result in anticipating methodologies/paths of the future ED reviews covering products of relevance for Eurovent.

Timeline

• Deadline for comments: 24 November 2023 (comments to be sent to info@ecodesignmaterials.eu)
• First stakeholder consultation meeting – March 2024
• Second stakeholder consultation meeting – October 2024
• Publication of final Phase 1 and 2 reports an end of study – end 2024 / beginning 2025

Additional resources

• Study website
• Slides presented at the 1^st online stakeholder meeting

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Short summary

The European Commission has commissioned an Ecodesign preparatory study for product specific measures on scarce, environmentally relevant and critical raw materials and on recycled content.
The study is carried out by VITO, Viegand Maagøe, VHK and Fraunhofer ISI for the European Commission, DG GROW.

The main exchange platform between the study team, the Commission, and the stakeholders is on the study website www.ecodesignmaterials.eu. All public documents prepared as part of the study will be made available through this website. Three stakeholder meetings are expected to be held during the course of the study.

The purpose of this initiative is to conduct an Ecodesign preparatory study on potential product-specific requirements on recycled content and on scarce, environmentally relevant and critical raw materials, and to propose possible implementing measures under the Ecodesign and Energy Labelling Regulatory Framework.

The specific study objective includes:

• Investigating in detail, the materials and the products that could be subject to these requirements
• Investigating the technical, economic, environmental, market and societal impacts of these potential requirements; and
• Providing the elements needed for the identification of policy options in the subsequent impact assessment.

If on the basis of the study findings, the Commission finds it appropriate to develop an implementing measure under the Ecodesign Directive and/or the Energy Labelling Regulation, working documents will be drafted.

First stakeholder meeting

The first online meeting is scheduled for 19 October 2023 10:00-12:30. Registration for this meeting is available on https://www.ecodesignmaterials.eu/meetings.

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Short summary

Following the third Consultation Forum on industrial fans held on 9 June 2023, and the subsequent interservice consultations, the Commission has published the revised draft for feedback. Eurovent together with European AMCA submitted comments on draft elements in the working document presented at the Consultation Forum in June.

Feedback welcome via ‘Have your say’

Draft Regulation and its annexes are available on the ‘Have your say’ portal. Stakeholders can comment on the draft until 03 November 2023. Feedback will be taken into account for finalising the revised Regulation. The next step will be its adoption, which is expected in Q1 2024.

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Ecobalyse

Ecobalyse is an ecolabel currently under development in France. It serves to give consumers information about the environmental impacts of products.

The first product priorities are textiles and food. The calculation methodology for the environmental impact scoring of those products should be ready by the end of 2023.

Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) methodology

The scheme seems at least partly based on the EU’s PEF methodology. The scheme for textiles references the PEF Category Rules (PEFCR) for Apparel & Footwear. PEF is also referenced in the methodology for food products. The product’s PEF score is listed among the environmental indicators to be shared with consumers for both food and textiles.

It is not clear on first analysis to what extent the PEF rules have been changed or supplemented to fit the French scheme.

EU Ecodesign rules for sustainable products

The French scheme clearly anticipates the EU’s Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) and the Digital Product Passport (DPP). The ESPR should allow the development of requirements to make products more sustainable and share environmental impacts of products with consumers through the DPP. Textiles have also been identified as one of the products priorities for the ESPR. It is reasonable to expect the French authorities to advocate for the use of Ecobalyse as a blueprint for ESPR and DPP requirements.

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Main take-aways

The main take-aways of the adopted report are summarised below:

• Provisions to safeguard confidential business information
• Extra provisions for ensuring the competitiveness of SMEs, including financing and educational support
• Call for ensuring consistency with other EU legislation and avoidance of duplication of information and reporting
• Call for a more transparent and inclusive Ecodesign Forum in comparison with the current one
• The information in the Digital Product Passport (DPP) shall be decided on a case-by-case basis and be fully interoperable with other databases
• Environmental footprint quantification shall be based on the PEF/PEFCRs, or other scientifically validated and verifiable lifecycle-based standards and category rules
• Provisions for longer product lifespans via bans on premature obsolescence
• Economic operators will be obliged to produce reports on the destruction of unsold products, on the basis of which the Commission shall identify product for which a destruction ban shall be introduced (textiles, footwear and electrical and electronic equipment are already included in the report of the Parliament)

The Parliament also confirmed the priority products that the Commission has suggested for first ESPR vertical measures: iron, steel, aluminium, textiles (notably garments and footwear), furniture, tyres, detergents, paints, lubricants and chemicals.

Next steps

The Council already adopted its negotiating position on 22 May 2023. Once the final cleared up text of the European Parliament position will be published, the Parliament and Council of the EU will enter interinstitutional negotiations, chaired by the European Commission to find a compromise on a final text that will become official EU law.

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Regulation 2019/2018 on the energy labelling of refrigerating appliances with a direct sales function

Concerning Regulation 2019/2018 which establishes the energy labelling requirements of refrigerating appliances with a direct sales function, Annex IX does not set a verification tolerance for temperatures, implying that the tolerance is zero. This concept needs to be made explicit, by specifying in Annex IV(2)(b) that the E daily (the energy consumption of the refrigerating appliance with a direct sales function over 24 hours) is measured according to the temperature conditions of Table 4 in the same Annex.

The Commission therefore proposes to correct Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/2018 on the above-mentioned issue.

Adopted texts

The adopted texts are available on the dedicated Have Your Say webpage.

Next steps

The Regulation is a delegated Regulation, therefore after the adoption of the Commission, there is a 3(±1) month period for objections by the Parliament and the Council before the final publication in the Official Journal.

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Regulation 626/2011 on the energy labelling of air conditioners

For single duct and double duct air conditioners, the hourly energy consumption in kWh per 60 minutes is according to the current wording ‘rounded up to the nearest integer’, instead of being ‘rounded to one decimal’. This makes the energy consumption information meaningless as the energy consumption is, in general, close to 1 kWh per 60 minutes.

By requiring that, for all air conditioners, efficiency and capacity are ‘rounded up’, it forces manufacturers to declare values that are higher than measured values.

The Commission therefore proposes to correct the wording on rounding under Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 626/2011.

Adopted texts

The adopted texts are available on the dedicated Have Your Say webpage.

Next steps

The Regulation is a delegated Regulation, therefore after the adoption of the Commission, there is a 3(±1) month period for objections by the Parliament and the Council before the final publication in the Official Journal.

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Plenary report

The report that is tabled for vote by the Plenary is the ENVI report adopted in June 2023. The main take-aways are outlined below:

• Class performances will be based on a based on a common methodology for the product or product group.
• Environmental footprints shall be based on the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) method or other scientific methods developed by international organisations and widely tested in collaboration with different industry sectors and recognised by the Commission.
• ‘Substances of concern’ remain and the scope is expanded. Performance requirements shall also not restrict the presence of substances in products for reasons relating primarily to chemical safety, unless there is an unacceptable risk to human health or the environment.
• The supplier of a substance or a mixture or the supplier of an article shall provide free of charge all the relevant information to the economic operators to facilitate its compliance with the performance and information requirements set out in this Regulation.
• Delegated acts will specify the methodology to assess the reparability of a product, define the classes of performance to be displayed by the reparability score, and define the product categories to which the reparability score shall apply.
• Horizonal requirements will be allowed when two or more product groups display technical similarities allowing a product aspect to be improved based on a common requirement.
• Ecodesign measures will have to respect relevant international agreements and be backed by an expanded and specified impact assessments (IAs) that the Commission will have to perform.
• Information in the DPP will be included with specific consideration for confidential business information and will be available on a need-to-know basis.
• Actors shall introduce or update the info in the DPP, including where needed the creation of a new DPP that shall be linked to the DPP(s) of the original products, avoiding the duplication of information and reporting.
• DPPs shall be interoperable with existing product databases, such as the Substances of Concern In articles, as such or in complex objects (Products) (SCIP) database and the European Product Registry for Energy Labelling (EPREL) database.
• Self-regulation measures will still be allowed, if the products are not included in the Ecodesign Working Plan.
• Manufacturers shall ensure that a product covered by a Delegated Act adopted pursuant to Article 4 is accompanied by instructions in digital format that enable consumers and other end-users to safely assemble, install, operate, store, maintain, repair and dispose of the product in a language that can be easily understood by consumers and other end-users, as determined by the Member State concerned.
• When a harmonised standard is adopted by a European standardisation organisation and the reference of a harmonised standard is published in the Official Journal of the European Union, the Commission, after an assessment, shall repeal the Implementing Acts or parts thereof containing the same Ecodesign requirements.

Next steps

The Plenary will vote on the ESPR report – thereby adopting its negotiating position – on 12 July 2023. The deadline for MEPs to table amendments is 5 July 2023.

The Council already adopted its negotiating position on 22 May 2023. After the European Parliament has adopted its position, the interinstitutional negotiations will start.

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