ESPR: New EU Requirements for Sustainable Products

Introduction

As noted in the European Commission's Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP) (COM(2020) 98 final) of March 11, 2020, the absence of measures to require that products become more sustainable has led to ever-increasing energy and resource consumption to meet the growing demand for products caused by their short lifespan.

As a result, some European Union (EU) Member States have developed measures to set environmental sustainability requirements for products, which have fragmented the internal market and increased costs for companies.

All these aspects have accentuated the need for a European framework on sustainable products and ecodesign requirements for all products placed on the EU market, including energy efficiency and circularity requirements.

The Ecodesign for Sustainable Product Regulation

The new Ecodesign for Sustainable Product Regulation (ESPR) was published in the European Union Official Journal on June 28, 2024, and entered into force on July 18, 2024.

This regulation is based on the Ecodesign Directive 2009/125/EC but extends its approach beyond energy-related products to cover all products placed on the EU market or put into service, including components and intermediate products, with minor exceptions, including food, feed and medicinal products.

ESPR is a framework-type regulation that does not establish product requirements to be fulfilled but defines the basis for their establishment in subsequent steps through delegated acts by the European Commission (EC).

These requirements may be developed vertically for product groups or horizontally for several product groups sharing similar technical characteristics, including the possibility of not setting any requirements concerning certain product parameters.

New ecodesign requirements

New ecodesign requirements to be set under specific product group(s) rules may be related to one or both of the following:

• Performance requirements – Based on relevant product parameters and include either or both quantitative requirements, such as minimum duration of lifetime, and nonquantitative requirements, i.e., repairability requirements.
• Information requirements – Including, as a minimum, digital product passport (DPP) and substances of concern (SoC) requirements and, as appropriate, information on performance, information for customers and other actors such as treatment facilities.

These requirements are intended to improve the following product characteristics (if relevant):

The digital product passport

The digital product passport (DPP) is the main information tool allowing access to product-specific information related to sustainability, including compliance with applicable requirements.

Information included in the DPP won’t be the same across product groups and may include the following:

• Technical and environmental performance.
• Sustainability and circularity aspects.
• Information about product compliance and information such as manuals, labels, etc.

Where feasible, the DPP will be linked to existing EU tools such as the European Product Registry for Energy Labelling (EPREL) or the database for information on the Substances of Concern In articles, as such or in complex objects (Products) (SCIP) database.

Additionally, products that already benefit from the possibility of digitalized information might be exempted from DPP requirements.

The DPP shall be connected to a persistent unique product identifier accessible electronically using a data carrier, such as a linear barcode, a two-dimensional symbol such as a QR code, or any other means that can be read by a device and which shall remain available for the entire product life cycle.

Substances of concern

The possibility to track substances of concern (SoC) throughout the life cycle of the products concerned is part of the new ecodesign requirements at both the information and/or performance level:

• Information requirements may include the name of the substance, its location, its concentration, instruction for safe use and relevant information for product management at its end of life.
• Performance requirements may impose restrictions on SoC for sustainability reasons.

SoC may include substances of very high concern (SVHC), persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and others. Delegated acts will define threshold and exemption from application of SoC requirements where relevant.

Product-specific delegated acts and first working plan

As ESPR is a framework legislation, the product-specific and horizontal measures will be developed based on a working plan (WP), thus enabling the prioritization of the most relevant products and measures to implement this framework.

The EC works on these measures by conducting preparatory studies and impact assessments, consulting stakeholders and experts through the Ecodesign Forum, and adopting and implementing delegated and implementing acts.

The works will be prioritized based on the criteria and list of products given in the ESPR. The first WP, covering a minimum of three years, will be prepared on the base of these indications. It is expected to be adopted in the first quarter of 2025, and it is expected to include, but not be limited to, the following:

• Intermediate products
  • Iron and steel
  • Aluminum
• Final products
  • Textiles
  • Furniture
  • Tires
  • Detergents
  • Paints
  • Lubricants
  • Chemicals
  • Energy-related products
  • Information and communication technology products and other electronics
• Horizontal requirements
  • Durability
  • Recyclability
  • Post-consumer recycled content

The delegated acts published because of this process will define requirements, conformity assessment, specific roles and responsibilities of manufacturers, importers, suppliers, retailers, and other economic operators.

Transitional regime

Until the publication of product-specific delegated acts, measures already in place and adopted pursuant to Ecodesign Directive 2009/125/CE remain valid during this transition period.

Furthermore, the current ecodesign regulations will continue to be reissued and amended when needed to make them up to date and ensure their implementation, according to the below criteria:

• Current ecodesign regulations remain valid until repealed and can be amended until 2030 in case there is the need to address technical issues (see Column A of the table).
• Ecodesign regulations that are under review at an advanced stage will continue the process to get (by the end of 2026) to the publication of an updated document, still related to Ecodesign Directive 2009/125/CE (see Column B).
• New or updated ecodesign regulations that were already included in the working plan but are at an early stage will be developed directly considering the ESPR (see Column C).

Relevant sources

1. Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 June 2024 establishing a framework for the setting of ecodesign requirements for sustainable products, amending Directive (EU) 2020/1828 and Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 and repealing Directive 2009/125/EC (Text with EEA relevance)
2. Directive 2009/125/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 October 2009 establishing a framework for the setting of ecodesign requirements for energy-related products (recast) (Text with EEA relevance)
3. COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS A new Circular Economy Action Plan For a cleaner and more competitive Europe
4. Ecodesign and Energy Label

Authors

Paola Pesconi, knowledge specialist, Global Market Access
Serena Pantano, knowledge specialist, Global Market Access