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PURPOSE: to facilitate the operation of the
internal market by laying down requirements that energy-related products must
meet in terms of environmental performance. LEGISLATIVE ACT: 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. CONTENT: the
Council adopted a revised eco-design directive, following a first-reading
agreement with the European Parliament. The new directive: - establishes
a framework for the setting of Community ecodesign requirements
applicable to energy-related products in order to guarantee the free
circulation of these products in the internal market;
- lays down
requirements with which energy-using products must comply in order to be
placed on the market or in service. It contributes to sustainable
development by increasing energy efficiency and the level of
environmental protection, while increasing the security of the energy supply.
The directive
does not apply to means of transport for persons or goods. The newdirective extends the scope of the existing directive 2005/32 by covering, in
principle, all energy-related products. This will improve the energy
and resource efficiency of a much wider range of products and reduce demand
on natural resources, contributing to the security of energy supply and to
the achievement of greenhouse gas emission targets in the EU. Requirements of manufacturers: the directive provides for the
establishment of standards to which energy-related products will have to
conform in order to be able to benefit from free movement within the
Community. These standards will have to be defined by the Commission in the
framework of the comitology procedure, following an impact assessment. The new rules require than manufacturers of
energy-related products take into consideration, from the design stage, the
environmental impact that these products will have throughout their life
cycle, thus facilitating cost-effective environmental improvements. Requirements
relating to the supply of information:in accordance with
the implementing measures, manufactures must guarantee, in the form that they
judge appropriate, that consumers of the products they produce are informed
of: - the necessary information on the role
they can play in the sustainable use of the product in question, and
- when the implementing measures so
require it, the ecological profile of the product and the benefits of
ecodesign.
The
implementing measures may include an obligation on the manufacturer to
provide information that may influence the way the product is handled, used
or recycled by parties other than himself. Consultation
Forum: the Commission shall ensure that, in the
conduct of its activities, it observes, in respect of each implementing
measure, a balanced participation of Member States’ representatives and all
interested parties concerned with the product or product group in question,
such as industry, including SMEs and craft industry, trade unions, traders,
retailers, importers, environmental protection groups and consumer
organisations. These parties shall contribute, in particular, to defining and
reviewing implementing measures, to examining the effectiveness of the
established market surveillance mechanisms and to assessing voluntary
agreements and other self-regulation measures. These parties shall meet in a
Consultation Forum the rules of procedure of which shall be established by
the Commission. Penalties: the Member States shall lay down the rules applicable to
infringements of the national provisions adopted pursuant to this Directive
and shall take all measures necessary to ensure that they are implemented.
The penalties provided for shall be effective, proportionate and dissuasive,
taking into account the extent of non-compliance and the number of units of
non-complying products placed on the Community market. Review: not later than 2012, the Commission shall review the
effectiveness of this Directive and of its implementing measures, including,
among other things: - the
methodology for the identification and coverage of significant
environmental parameters, such as resource efficiency, considering the
whole life cycle of products;
- the
threshold for implementing measures;
- market surveillance
mechanisms; and
- any relevant
self-regulation stimulated.
Following this
review, the Commission shall assess, in particular, the appropriateness of
extending the scope of the Directive to non-energy-related products and
shall, as appropriate, present proposals to the European Parliament and the
Council for amending this Directive. ENTRY INTO FORCE: 20/11/2009.
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