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Corporate social responsibility
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Environment: Action Plan SCP/SIP
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Sustainable product policy
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Eco-industries
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Climate change
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Environmental management
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External dimension
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Enterprise policy integration
Ecodesign
The Ecodesign Directive 
[471 KB] provides consistent EU-wide rules for improving the environmental performance of energy-using products (EUPs) through ecodesign.
It prevents disparate national legislations on the environmental performance of these products throughout the EU from becoming obstacles to the intra-EU trade.
This should benefit both businesses and consumers, by facilitating free movement of goods across the EU and by enhancing product quality and environmental protection.
EUPs are products which use, generate, transfer or measure energy (such as electricity, gas, fossil fuel). This includes consumer goods such as boilers, water heaters, computers, televisions, but also industrial products such as transformers, industrial fans and industrial furnaces. EUPs account for a large proportion of the energy consumption in the EU.
On 16 July 2008, the Commission proposed to extend the Ecodesign directive
[296 KB] to a wider range of products, in order to cover all energy-related products (ERPs).
ERPs include EUPs, plus other products which do not consume energy, but which impact on energy consumption. For example, windows, insulation materials or water-using devices such as shower heads or taps, do not consume energy but can contribute to save energy.
The Commission proposed to amend only the scope of the Ecodesign directive: the basic principles and the decision-making process of the current Directive should not be altered, in order not to disrupt the ongoing implementation of the current Directive.
The Directive is under the responsibility of DG Enterprise and Industry and DG Energy.
Contact: ENTR-ECODESIGN@ec.europa.eu
Extension of the Ecodesign directive
The Commission proposed to amend only the scope of the Ecodesign directive, in order to extend it to a wider range of products.
An energy-related product is defined as "any good having an impact on energy consumption during use". Energy-related products include all energy-using products, plus energy-saving products such as windows and some water-using domestic devices, which can reduce water consumption and therefore the amount of energy needed to heat water.
On 16 July 2008, the Commission proposed a recast
[296 KB] of the Ecodesign directive. This proposal has been preceded by an impact assessment.
What is a recast? A recast is a revision of a European legislation, which obeys specific rules: the parts of the legal text which are modified by the Commission in its proposal are clearly identified (highlighted in grey). In the Codecision procedure, only the parts of the text highlighted in grey can be discussed and amended by the Council and the European Parliament.
Rule 80 (a) of the Rules of procedure of the European Parliament (February 2008) details the procedure used by the Parliament to deal with recasts.
Decision-making process under the Ecodesign directive
The Ecodesign directive is a framework directive. It does not introduce directly binding ecodesign requirements for specific products, but defines conditions and criteria for setting such requirements. Therefore, mandatory requirements are not set by the Directive itself, but through subsequent implementing measures (technical measures for addressing specific products), according to the conditions and criteria established by the Directive.
In particular, as specified in article 15 of the Directive, only products having a significant environmental impact, yearly sales and trade in the EU (indicatively) above 200,000 Units and clear potential for improvement can be subject to mandatory ecodesign requirements.
The Directive also states that self-regulation shall be privileged, if it allows achieving the objectives of the Directive more quickly or at a less expense than mandatory requirements. But, to be an acceptable alternative to regulation, voluntary initiative by industry has to comply with several criteria detailed in Annex VIII of the Directive. In particular, the self-regulatory initiative shall include staged and quantified objectives, represent a large majority of the economic sector considered and be publicised.
Any implementing measure has to be preceded by:
- A preparatory study
- A Consultation Forum (consultation of all stakeholders)
- An impact assessment
- A Regulatory Committee (vote by Member States)
- A scrutiny by the European Parliament
This procedure is followed for each product group, in DG Enterprise and Industry and in DG Energy.
On 21 October 2008, the Commission adopted a working plan setting out an indicative list of product groups which will be considered as priorities for the adoption of implementing measures for the period 2009-2011.