With its proposal on sustainable products due on 30 March, the European Commission will establish an EU policy framework for the sustainability of virtually all products, beyond just energy-related products currently covered by the Ecodesign Directive (2009/125/EC), which it would repeal, according to a leaked draft text.
This proposal will take the form of an EU regulation in line with the European Green Deal and the sustainable product policy it provides for under the EU’s Second Circular Economy Action Plan for a sustainable and resource-efficient economy (see EUROPE 12444/1).
The approach and scope of the Ecodesign Directive, which has been generally successful in promoting energy efficiency and certain aspects of circularity of energy-related products, would be extended, both in terms of products and new types of requirements, to systematically address the key aspects of improving the environmental sustainability of products subject to mandatory requirements and thus promote sustainability throughout their life cycle.
Only a few sectors are exempted, such as food, feed and medicines.
According to the draft, the future regulation would establish a framework for setting ecodesign requirements, creating a European digital passport for products, called a ‘product passport’. The latter would ensure their traceability throughout the supply chain and the traceability of the chemical substances they contain.
In addition, the future regulation would prohibit the destruction of unsold consumer products.
Priority products. The Commission identifies electrical and ICT (information and communication technology) equipment, textiles, furniture and steel, cement and chemicals as particularly polluting product groups, which are therefore considered to be priorities.
It stresses that, in order to avoid duplication and administrative burden for companies and authorities, consistency between this future regulation and other EU legislation, in particular legislation on products, chemical substances and waste, will have to be ensured.
Ecodesign requirements by delegated acts. They should include both performance requirements and information requirements - including the ‘’Digital Product Passport’- and would be established by delegated acts. These could apply to product groups or a range of product groups, where it is possible to set common ecodesign requirements. The text specifies the conditions to be fulfilled by the Commission when drawing up delegated acts and the criteria that these delegated acts should respect.
Information to be provided. The future regulation will establish the type of information that can be provided, for example information on the performance of a product such as the ecological footprint of the product or its durability, or information for consumers on how to install or use the product. According to the project, this information could take the form of ‘performance classes’, for example from A to G, to facilitate comparison between products.
This forthcoming proposal is one of the environmental priorities of the French Presidency of the EU Council (see EUROPE 12860/4).
The European Parliament, for its part, was ambitious in February 2021 with regard to sustainable products, calling for new consumer rights, including a digital product passport containing information on reparability, the social and environmental footprint and supply chain traceability (see EUROPE 12654/2).
A strong proposal, with some drawbacks. Reacting to the draft on 3 March, MEP Delara Burkhardt (S&D, Germany), the environment spokesperson for her group of German MEPs, said that “at first glance, there are many positive measures” for the circular economy and informed consumer choice. She cited in particular the fact that “all products in the EU, whether smartphones, clothes or furniture, which are not sold, cannot simply be destroyed” and the introduction of a digital product passport, for example by means of a QR code, guaranteeing transparency - “a revolutionary tool for a climate-friendly circular economy”.
However, Ms Burkhardt sees a risk in the use of delegated acts, “as this means that the Commission has the right to regulate product groups, leaving the European Parliament out of the loop. Especially in the case of the strategy for sustainable textiles, but also for other product groups, this could lead to a one-sided representation of interests”, warns the MEP.
For its part, the NGO ECOS (Environmental Coalition on Standards), which campaigns for environmentally friendly technical standards and legislation, welcomed a “strong proposal” as it stands.
However, given the broad scope, four regulations a year from 2024, as the Commission plans, “will not be enough to make sustainable products the norm in all sectors within this decade”, according to the strategy director at ECOS, Chloé Fayole.
“We like the proposal’s ambition so far, but we haven’t seen the annexes, so we remain cautious until we see the details. The annexes will determine how to set performance and information requirements, for example”, she added. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)