The European
Parliament adopted by 394 votes to 13, with 3 abstentions, a legislative resolution
modifying, under the first reading of the codecision procedure, the proposal
for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a
framework for the setting of ecodesign requirements for energy related
products (recast).
The amendments
are the result of a compromise negotiated with the Council.
The main
amendments mostly concern the recitals and stress the following points:
- many energy
related products have a significant improvement potential for reducing
environmental impacts and achieving energy savings through better design
which also leads to economic savings for businesses and end users. In
addition to products which use, generate, transfer, or measure energy,
selected energy related products, including products used in
construction such as windows, insulation materials, or some water using
products like shower heads or taps could also contribute to significant
energy savings during use;
- the text
stresses that improving the energy and resource efficiency of products
contributes to the security of the energy supply and reduces demand on
natural resources, which are preconditions of sound economic activity
and therefore of sustainable development;
- considering
at the design stage a product's environmental impact throughout its
whole life cycle has a high potential to facilitate environmental
improvement in a cost-effective way, including on resource and material
efficiency and thereby meeting the objectives of the Thematic Strategy
on Natural Resources;
- regard should
be given to the modules and rules intended for use in technical
harmonisation Directives set out in Decision No 768/2008/EC on a
common framework for the marketing of products and repealing Council
Decision 93/465/EEC;
- in
accordance with the Interinstitutional Agreement on better law-making,
Member States are encouraged to draw up, for themselves and in the
interest of the Community, their own tables, illustrating, as far as
possible, the correlation between this Directive and the transposition
measures, and to make them public.
Not later than
2012 the Commission shall review the effectiveness of this Directive and of
its implementing measures, including, inter alia:
- 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;
- any relevant
self-regulation stimulated.
Following this
review, and in particular considering the experience related to the extended
scope of the Directive, the Commission shall assess notably the
appropriateness of extending the scope of the Directive to non energy related
products, in order to achieve significant reduction of environmental impacts
throughout their whole life cycle.