The Commission presented a report on the voluntary ecodesign scheme for games consoles.
Directive 2009/125/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (the Ecodesign Directive) provides a legal framework for laying down ecodesign requirements for selected priority product groups. According to Article 15 of the Ecodesign Directive, a priority product group has to be covered by either a mandatory implementing measure (i.e. a Commission Regulation) or a self-regulation measure (e.g. a voluntary agreement concluded by industry), if it meets three conditions:
- it represents significant sales volumes,
- it has a significant environmental impact,
- it has a significant improvement potential.
The Working Plan 2009-2011 under the Ecodesign Directive includes the product group sound and imaging equipment as offering a high potential for the cost-effective reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The Commission undertook a preparatory study for sound and imaging, including games consoles. The preparatory study confirmed that this product group meets the criteria listed in Article 15 of the Ecodesign Directive.
Companies active in the games consoles market have proposed a voluntary agreement laying down specific ecodesign requirements for games consoles models placed on the EU market, which use more than 20 Watts in active game mode. The voluntary scheme was agreed by the signatories in April 2014.
It is estimated that the commitments undertaken by the signatories to the voluntary agreement will generate savings in 2020 of 1 TWh, corresponding to 0,494 Mt of avoided CO2 emissions.
The Commission’s impact assessment concluded that the proposed voluntary scheme would achieve the policy objectives more quickly and at lesser expense than mandatory requirements.
In conclusion, the Commission stated that the voluntary ecodesign scheme proposed by the industry for games consoles complies with all provisions of the Treaty, international engagements of the EU and specific assessment criteria, so is considered valid under the Ecodesign Directive.
The Commission recognised that games consoles placed on the EU market should be subject to the voluntary ecodesign scheme. This voluntary scheme should be a valid alternative to an ecodesign implementing measure, so will abstain, for now, from establishing mandatory ecodesign requirements for games consoles placed on the EU market.
The Commission will continuously monitor the application of the voluntary scheme. Should this reveal that the objectives and general principles of the Ecodesign Directive are not being met, the Commission may establish ecodesign requirements for games consoles in a mandatory implementing measure.