On Thursday 29 September in Brussels, the European ministers of industry and economy expressed their support for the objectives of the proposed European regulation on ecodesign for sustainable products. They believe that this proposal is timely in the midst of the energy crisis/raw material shortage and has the potential to promote the free movement of recyclable, repairable and resource-efficient products in the single market and the long-term competitiveness of European industry.
However, they are keen to have a say in the development of future ecodesign standards for products and to avoid a disproportionate administrative burden and costs for businesses, especially SMEs and very small businesses already heavily affected by the crisis.
These are the trends that have emerged from the first political debate on the proposed regulation that will set ecodesign and information requirements for all products except food, feed and medicines (see EUROPE 13024/6, 12922/1).
Summing up the debate, the Czech minister for trade and industry, Jozef Síkela, welcomed the ministers’ recognition of “the potential of the digital product passport” and their view that “ecodesign requirements could improve resource efficiency”.
He assured that he had “taken good note of the concerns” of the delegations - concerns that will be reflected in further discussions. While Member States have issues with the Commission’s delegated acts, the Acting President of the Competitiveness Council told the press that it will be possible to make “fairly rapid progress” in the upcoming discussions.
A potentially promising ‘product passport’. There was broad consensus on the usefulness of the European digital product passport, as a tool “bridging the gap between the green and digital transition”, as underlined by the European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, as well as to facilitate market surveillance and to meet the expectations of consumers, who are increasingly demanding information on the environmental performance of products in order to make informed choices.
“It is an instrument of transparency from the basic product to the recycled product”, the Hungarian minister stressed.
However, many delegations stressed the need to ensure the protection of confidential business data, provide market surveillance authorities with adequate financial resources and infrastructure to monitor products - a major challenge - and provide technical and financial support to SMEs.
Luxembourg hoped that a product circularity data sheet, already established at national level in Luxembourg, would serve as a blueprint for the ‘product passport’ at EU level.
Distrust of delegated acts. As ecodesign requirements by product groups would be established by delegated acts and secondary regulations by product groups would follow from 2024 onwards, many delegations expressed their concerns about the number and use of delegated acts which would weaken the role of Member States. They would rather that implementing acts were prepared.
For instance Sweden considered that the essential ecodesign requirements should be part of the regulation itself.
The establishment of the Ecodesign Forum was welcomed by all as a way of bringing together all stakeholders.
Thierry Breton insisted on the importance of this regulation at a time when “rare raw materials are going to become increasingly scarce, or will even disappear, for some of them”. He was keen to reassure delegations that Member States would be closely involved in the work on the ecodesign criteria by product group.
“Ecodesign for sustainable products is a key part of the Commission’s strategy to achieve the objectives of the European Green Deal because products have a non-negligible impact on the planet. Construction, transport and packaging, with their complex value chains, are processes that use a lot of energy and raw materials”, recalled the European Commissioner for the Environment, Virginijus Sinkevičius, at the beginning of the debate.
He added that half of all greenhouse gas emissions and 90% of biodiversity loss are caused by the transformation of raw materials into intermediate and final products.
Prioritising. At the end of the debate, he announced that the European Commission will launch a public consultation by the end of the year to prioritise ecodesign work by product category in the context of the multi-annual work programmes.
Mr Sinkevičius said that he was counting on the support of the Member States for further legislative work.
In this first ministerial policy debate, the ministers confirmed the consensus reached in the high-level working group on competitiveness. However, the group’s Chair indicated that on other issues, such as raw materials, the views and ambitions of the Member States differed. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)