Setting ecodesign requirements for sustainable products

Briefing 30-06-2022

This briefing provides an initial analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the European Commission's impact assessment (IA) accompanying the above-mentioned proposal, submitted on 30 March 2022 and referred to the European Parliament's Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI). The proposal aims to repeal the Ecodesign Directive 2009/125/EC, which establishes a framework for adopting product-specific requirements set out in implementing measures (usually regulations) by the European Commission. Until recently, the directive focused mainly on the energy efficiency of products and since 2019 also on their lifetime (e.g. availability of spare parts for a certain number of years after the last item has been placed on the market). It currently covers 29 energy-related product groups, ranging from ventilation systems to high-pressure cleaners. The new proposal for a Regulation would establish a framework for setting Ecodesign requirements that would apply to all physical products on the internal market (with a few exceptions), with the aim of making them more durable, reusable, reparable, upgradeable, recyclable and generally less harmful to the environment. Product specific requirements would be set out later, in delegated acts, for each product group separately. The proposal was first announced in the European Green Deal, and then confirmed in the Circular Economy action plan, alongside a communication on making sustainable products the norm and a proposal for a directive empowering consumers for the green transition. The Commission included the present proposal in Annex I of its 2021 work programme (new initiatives) and the 2022 joint declaration on legislative priorities.