Ecodesign for sustainable products

Most products are not designed with their life cycle environmental impacts in mind, and it is difficult for consumers and economic operators to make sustainable choices when buying products. The EU still lacks an overarching legislative framework laying down rules for sustainable production and consumption of all products. Ecodesign refers to the integration of environmental sustainability considerations into the characteristics of a product, and into processes throughout its value chain. On 30 March 2022, the European Commission put forward a proposal for a regulation establishing a framework for setting ecodesign requirements for sustainable products. The proposed regulation would lay down rules applying to all products on the internal market, with the aim of making them more durable, reusable, reparable, upgradable, recyclable and generally less harmful to the environment. The regulation would include rules on a digital product passport, green public procurement and a ban on the destruction of unsold goods. The co-legislators reached a provisional agreement on 5 December 2023, after three trilogues. This agreement still needs to be formally approved by both institutions. It was approved by Coreper on 22 December 2023, and by the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) on 11 January 2024. It must now be adopted by Parliament in plenary and then by the Council. Third edition of a briefing originally drafted (first version) by Nikolina Šajn. The 'EU Legislation in Progress' briefings are updated at key stages throughout the legislative procedure.