The European Parliament voted by 535 to 46, with 79 abstentions in Strasbourg on Tuesday 13 June to approve new energy labelling legislation, paving the way for the phasing in, from 2019, of new labelling of the energy performance of household appliances, such as washing machines, televisions, refrigerators, etc.
Parliament has thus endorsed the inter-institutional agreement between its negotiators, led by rapporteur Dario Tamburrano (EFDD, Italy) and the Maltese Presidency of the Council of the EU on the draft regulation proposed by the Commission in summer 2015 revising the framework put in place by the 2010 directive on the system of labelling on the energy efficiency of appliances that was introduced in 1995.
The revised framework will see a single labelling system on a scale ranging from “A” to “G”, replacing the current rating system (A+, A++, A+++, etc.) which is felt to cause confusion among consumers. It will make the new energy labelling system more robust, more uniform and more able to keep pace with technological progress.
From the end of 2019, customers should see the first labels with the new rating scale without the “+” indications in shops.
Set timescales have been established for the first rescaling of all labelled appliances, according to three categories of product. Once all the A+ labels have disappeared from the market, rescaling will be triggered when 30% of products sold on the EU market fall into the top energy efficiency class A, or when 50% of these products fall into the top two energy efficiency classes A and B. When rescaling takes place, the two highest classes are to be left empty, with the aim of an expected validity of ten years.
The labels will be placed on the products in printed format and their online versions and product information will be searchable and downloadable. In the event of updates that would affect the energy efficiency of a product already purchased, the supplier should inform the customer.
Any visual advertisement or technical promotional material should refer to the energy efficiency class and to the scale available on the label. Information campaigns for consumers will be run in order to highlight the newly introduced versions of the labels.
The Commission will have to create a product database with a technical section to help national authorities monitor compliance and an online portal for the public, to support market surveillance authorities and provide consumers with additional information about the products. It should also draw up enforcement guidelines for this regulation as regards best practices for product testing and information exchange.
“Citizens will have a clear, smart, digital system. Thanks to open, accessible data, new tools will allow citizens to compare products based on their habits and so buy more wisely”, said Tamburrano, pressing the Commission to fulfil its commitment to give Europeans a redress mechanism beyond the two-year warranty.
Speaking for the EPP Group, Nadine Morano (France) welcomed the new labelling framework which will allow consumers “to compare more easily and to make good choices”, households to save up to €500 per year on their energy bills and the EU to save 900 TWh of electricity.
For the S&D Group, Martina Werner (Germany) said that the new framework, drawing the lessons of Dieselgate, includes stronger market surveillance but she was disappointed that her group’s calls for consumer compensation, after purchasing incorrectly labelled goods, had met with resistance from the Commission and the Council.
On behalf of the ECR, Ashley Fox (UK) hailed the new labelling system that will allow consumers “to make accurate energy efficient and cost efficient choices”. He welcomed the added rigour it would bring to market surveillance after seeing that “abuses in the motor industry have impacted consumer confidence”.
The Greens/EFA Group welcomed “a reform that is good for consumers”. It regrets, however, the “long transition” between the two labelling models and the differing pace of change from one category of appliances to another. “For a period of more than 10 years, products such as televisions and dishwashers will have new labels, while items like heaters and boilers will still have the unclear current system. "There is simply no excuse for the implementation to be pushed back until 2030 and beyond for certain products, some of which still use fossil fuels”, said Michèle Rivasi (France).
The same line was taken by the GUE/NGL Group. Neoklis Sylikiotis (Cyprus) welcomed efforts to re-assess European energy labelling but argued for shorter time frames for implementation. “Unfortunately, the timetables set for the positive proposals included in the final agreement will not be implemented in the immediate future, but instead after eight to ten years”, he underlined, calling for immediate compensation to be given to consumers who have been cheated by buying products with the wrong energy label. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)