hen it comes to energy-related products,1 sustainable product policy in the European Union (EU) is largely implemented through the ecodesign and energy labeling legislative frameworks. Product-specific laws have been adopted under each framework. For example, various household appliances are the subject of individual EU Regulations concerning ecodesign2 and energy labeling. In all, about 30 product groups are regulated through some 50 measures.
While the legislative frameworks have been in place for many years, they have also been subject to periodic review and updating. For instance, the 2017 adoption of the EU Energy Labelling Framework Regulation came with the repeal of the 2010 Energy Labelling Framework Directive and the introduction of obligations associated with a product database – later known as the European Product Database for Energy Labelling (EPREL).
This article discusses the intention to update EU ecodesign legislation through the recent tabling of a proposal for a Sustainable Products Regulation. It is anticipated that this proposed EU Regulation will be adopted within the next two years. Meanwhile, a plan has been published for advancing existing EU policy concerning the sustainability of energy-related products between now and 2024. This is the European Commission’s 2022-2024 Ecodesign & Energy Labelling Working Plan – something that this article also comments upon.
In particular, the proposed Regulation would broaden the legislative scope such that any physical good placed on the EU market could be targeted (at present, the scope is confined to energy-related products), while more focus would be given to regulating product aspects other than energy performance (e.g., durability, reliability, reusability, upgradability, repairability, information requirements). Other things in contention include digital product passports, new obligations for fulfillment service providers, online marketplaces, and online search engines, and preventing the destruction of unsold consumer products.
Requirements for specific products or product groups would be set via delegated acts. It appears that the European Commission will soon consult on which products or product groups should be prioritized for regulation in the years ahead.
In the meantime, the proposed Regulation is subject to the EU’s ordinary legislative procedure, meaning that the proposal will be scrutinized by the European Parliament (EP) and the Council of the EU in the coming months with tripartite meetings between Parliament, the Council, and the Commission also taking place. The ordinary legislative procedure is illustrated in Figure 1.
For the moment, those involved in the manufacture and supply of electrical and electronic equipment (and other products) should take heed of the proposal while noting that it is likely to be two years or more before anything substantive emerges in the form of new EU sustainable products legislation. In the meantime, all existing EU ecodesign legislation continues to apply, as do scheduled legislative reviews, completion of outstanding ecodesign preparatory studies, and so on.
For readers interested in the detail, Table 1 summarizes the main changes the proposed Regulation would bring into effect. The text in this table is reproduced from a European Parliamentary Research Service briefing paper on the proposed Regulation.3
Ecodesign Working Plans consider the potential for setting and/or furthering ecodesign requirements for different products. To date, the Commission has published three working plans, and it published its fourth in April of this year – although its scope has been broadened to also consider the potential for energy labeling this time round.
According to the Commission, the 2022-2024 Ecodesign & Energy Labelling Working Plan “strengthens the focus on the circularity aspects of ecodesign, following the example set in the previous Working Plan and in line with the Circular Economy Action Plan 2020.” To this end, “new product-specific requirements on material efficiency aspects can and will be explored. This should result in further improved circularity and overall reduction of environmental and climate footprints of energy-related products, as well as stronger EU resilience.”
- Heating and cooling appliances—This is based on the Council of the EU’s request that the Commission “accelerate the ongoing work on heating and cooling appliances by rescaling energy labels as soon as possible.” Meanwhile, the Commission affirms that the work will “be a critical contribution to the decarbonization of buildings and the Zero Pollution action plan as part of the overall Green Deal objectives, and these products are those with the highest energy consumption of all regulated products.”
- Other product groups with energy labels up for rescaling—The EU energy label was subject to rescaling in 2020 and, in 2021, the provision and display of rescaled energy labels became a legal requirement in the case of household washing machines and washer-dryers, household dishwashers, electronic displays, refrigerating appliances, and light sources. The Commission is now keen to pursue the “timely rescaling and updating [of] the remaining ‘old’ energy labels… tak[ing] full advantage of the new features offered by EPREL.” Among the other product groups likely to be targeted when it comes to the rescaling of existing energy labels are air conditioners, domestic ovens and cooker hoods, household tumble dryers, space heaters, residential ventilation units, solid fuel boilers, and more.
- Other product groups with the potential for significant additional energy savings—This includes product groups that represent significant additional savings potential in terms of energy or material savings, that are long overdue, or where particular circumstances imply a clear or urgent need for revision. For example, the Commission names water pumps, fans, and external power supplies.
- Recycled content;
- Durability, firmware. and software; and
- Reducing or eliminating uses of scarce, environmentally relevant, and critical raw materials in energy-related products.
Here, the Commission states that “the requirements are theoretically applicable to all energy-related products; dedicated preparatory studies will be needed to help identifying the product categories that are most relevant for potential regulatory approaches.”
- Introducing a dedicated web portal that will be the single access point, providing targeted information for citizens, national authorities, suppliers, dealers, and policymakers;
- Improving the user interface and tools available to market surveillance authorities to better streamline their activities;
- Transforming the structure of the technical documentation to streamline registration activity by suppliers and facilitate analysis thereof by compliance authorities; and
- Starting the implementation of revised regulations for some product groups and possibly adding new ones (e.g., smartphones and tablets).
- Continuous improvement of IT tools such as the Information and Communication System for Market Surveillance (ICSMS) and EPREL;
- Giving technical and logistical support to Administrative Cooperation Groups (AdCos);
- Financing joint or concerted actions and campaigns;
- Engaging with the Member States on ways to improve market surveillance, including what resources they make available; and
- Proposing new legal provisions that will improve market surveillance.
The new Working Plan is an ambitious one, especially when one considers that it succeeds the Third Ecodesign Working Plan that was originally set to run until 2019 and, in the Commission’s own words, “about 40% [of this Working Plan] is still ongoing and will be rolled over to the current planning period.” So, there is much to do.
While the European Commission’s proposed Sustainable Products Regulation will be subject to scrutiny and amendment by both the European Parliament and the Council of the EU in the months ahead, it will almost certainly be adopted. It is also highly likely that it will lead to the implementation of new measures relating to product durability, reliability, reusability, upgradability, and repairability. To this end, interested readers may find developments in European material efficiency standardization6 something worth following.
Concerning the 2022-2024 Ecodesign & Energy Labelling Working Plan, it will be interesting to see what progress is made. If anything, the Commission’s delivery fell short of its stated ambitions when it came to previous Working Plans. However, the Commission appears to have set itself both realistic and achievable goals for the next two years. We will have to wait and see what happens.
- These are any goods or systems “with an impact on energy consumption during use which is placed on the market or put into service, including parts with an impact on energy consumption during use which are placed on the market or put into service for customers and that are intended to be incorporated into products.”
- Under the legislation, this is a term that refers to “the integration of environmental aspects into product design with the aim of improving the environmental performance of the product throughout its whole life cycle.”
- Šajn, N. (2022) Ecodesign for Sustainable Products, Brussels: EPRS. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document/EPRS_BRI(2022)733524
- To obtain a copy of the Working Plan, please visit https://energy.ec.europa.eu/ecodesign-and-energy-labelling-working-plan-2022-2024_en
- Accessible from https://energy.ec.europa.eu/ecodesign-and-energy-labelling-working-plan-2022-2024_en
- A European Commission strategy that is intent upon renovating building stock to improve energy efficiency while driving a clean energy transition. It envisages the overhaul of 220 million buildings standing today by 2050. https://energy.ec.europa.eu/topics/energy-efficiency/energy-efficient-buildings/renovation-wave_en
- See https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_21_4613
- CEN and CENELEC were mandated by the European Commission to develop general, wide-ranging standards on material efficiency aspects for ecodesign. CEN-CENELEC Joint Technical Committee 10 handled this, and it has developed and published various generic standards in the EN 4555X series. For example, EN 45552:2020 General method for the assessment of the durability of energy-related products.