Ecodesign requirements for energy-using products

This communication concerns the establishment of the working plan for 2009-2011 under the Ecodesign Directive.

The Ecodesign Directive 2005/32/ECestablishes a framework for the setting of ecodesign requirements for energy-using products. It is therefore a key component of the EU’s policy for improving the energy and environmental performance of products on the internal market. The Directive ensures free movement of products across Europe and encourages integration of ecodesign in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Overall, the ecodesign framework brings benefits, in the form of products offering better environmental performance, including energy savings.

The Ecodesign Directive specifies that the Commission shall publish a working plan setting out, for the three following years, an indicative list of energy-using product groups which will be considered priorities for the adoption of implementing measures.

During the “transitional period” between the entry into force of the Ecodesign Directive and adoption of this working plan (2005-2008), implementing measures were to be introduced for the product groups, such as  a number of energy using products identified by the European Climate Change Programme as priorities, such as heating and water-heating equipment, electric motor systems, lighting in both the domestic and tertiary sectors, domestic appliances, office equipment in both the domestic and tertiary sectors, consumer electronics and HVAC (heating/ventilating/air conditioning) systems.

The working plan builds on the work done since mid-2005 for the transitional priority product groups. The environmental priorities for the adoption of implementing measures remain the same, in particular to harness the potential of energy-using products to combat climate change in a cost-effective manner. The product groups listed are considered indicative priorities for preparatory studies and implementing measures in the next three years.

A Commission studyfor preparing the working plan identified 57 product groups which fall within the scope of the Ecodesign Directive but were not covered in the transitional period. An indicative list of product groups covered by this working plan is as follows:

• Air-conditioning and ventilation systems;
• Electric and fossil-fuelled heating equipment;
• Food-preparing equipment;
• Industrial and laboratory furnaces and ovens;
• Machine tools;
• Network, data processing and data storing equipment;
• Refrigerating and freezing equipment;
• Sound and imaging equipment;
• Transformers;
• Water-using equipment.

The prioritisation assessment by the Commission may be subject to change after a full quantitative assessment is carried out in a preparatory study.

As regards the future:

• inclusion on the indicative list for this working plan indicates that the Commission will initiate a preparatory study on the product group concerned during the period 2009-2011 and, possibly, adopt an implementing measure, subject to the outcome of the preparatory study, a favourable impact assessment and the condition that no valid self-regulatory measures are in place;
• information regarding the timeline for preparatory studies and implementing measures will be disseminated to all stakeholders for each product group, notably via the websites of the Commission departments in charge of the Ecodesign Directiveand via stakeholder meetings and websites organised by the contractors conducting the preparatory studies;
• each preparatory study will investigate possible ecodesign requirements on the basis of technical, economic and environmental analyses. The possibility of issuing a mandate to standardise certain ecodesign parameters should be explored. Interested parties should cooperate actively in this analysis.

• the Commission calls on the branches of industry manufacturing energy-using products with a significant environmental impact to develop self-regulation measures which could deliver the policy objectives faster or in a less costly manner than mandatory requirements;

• the working plan shall be amended periodically by the Commission, after consultation with the Consultation Forum;
• if the proposal by the Commission to extend the product scope of the Ecodesign Directiveto cover all energy-related products is swiftly adopted by the European Parliament and the Council, the  Commission will amend the working plan, as appropriate, to include product groups added by the extension.