The Eco-design Directive
for energy using products
eceee position
The rate of efficiency improvement in the least energy efficient products will determine the pace of progress under the Eco-design Directive.
- In the next 2–3 years, minimum energy performance standards (MEPS) should be introduced in areas such as boilers, halogen lighting, appliance standby energy consumption and transformer performance.
- MEPS should be dynamic and revised frequently.
- MEPS should be monitored for compliance.
- MEPS must be based on realistic least life-cycle cost assumption that take the learning capability and associated potential for cost reduction into account. LCC evaluations done in retrospect show that assumptions are typically too conservative and the costs of new, efficient technologies assumed to be too high.
- The interaction between MEPS and labelling is important. Therefore, it is very important that the energy labelling of cold appliances is revised. Moreover, energy labelling must be extended to product areas such as fossil fuel boilers, and heating and ventilating systems (including air conditioning).
eceee documents
eceee policy brief on Eco-Design (pdf)
eceee response to the Commission's consultation on the energy labelling Directive.
eceee comments on proposed eco-design requirements and the Commission's first proposals can be found on the Products covered page.
EU documents and links
See also the pages on the Eco-design EuP process and the EuP producs covered.
Eup directive (EURLex)
DG Enterprise and Industry EuP website
DG Energy and Transport EuP website
Commission Integrated Product Policy (IPP) website
Commission on Energy labelling
Awareness Raising Campaign for Electrical and Electronics SMEs
The EU Eco-design Directive was adopted in 2005. It establishes a framework under which manufacturers of energy-using products will, at the design stage, be obliged to reduce the energy consumption and other negative environmental impacts occurring throughout the product life cycle. The Directive makes provision for the introduction of so-called implementing measures, which can be minimum energy performance standards (MEPS) or other mechanisms.
It is generally acknowledged that a product¹s lifetime energy use is strongly influenced at the design phase.
'Eco-design' means that there will be a greater focus on lifetime energy use and other environmental aspects during the conception and design phases, before it is manufactured and brought to market.
The Eco-design Directive sets a framework for performance criteria which manufacturers must meet in order to legally bring their product to the market. It does not yet, however, prescribe specific measures or standards and sets no overall energy saving targets.
Detailed actions will be introduced by the European Commission following a process of discussion with key stakeholders and through what the Commission calls implementing measures.
Once the Eco-design Directive becomes effective, manufacturers who begin marketing an energy using product covered by an implementing measure in the EU area will have to ensure that it conforms to the energy and environmental standards set out by the measure.
Since earlier Directives for minimum energy performance standards (MEPS) already contain efficiency requirements for certain products these are to be integrated into the Eco-design Directive framework and considered as the basis for implementing measures.
Existing requirements for product energy labelling (as well as for the voluntary EU eco-label) will continue to exist alongside the provisions set out in the Eco-design Directive. Energy labels are intended to provide consumers with energy and environmental information on which they can base a choice between products on the market.
All energy using products sold in the domestic, commercial and industrial sectors are potentially covered by the new Directive with the exception of all means of transport which are covered by other legislation.
In practice, the implementing measures will focus on those products which have a high potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions at low cost, through reduced energy demand. Early candidates are likely to include heating and lighting equipment.
The Directive makes a specific priority of the need to reduce stand-by losses in all energy using products. (Stand-by is when a product is connected to the mains without providing any useful service. A TV switched off with the remote control on stand-by) Products on stand-by represent around 10% of all household electricity consumption.
The Eco-design Directive resulted from the combination of DG (Directorate General) Enterprise's proposals for an EEE (Eco-design for Electrical & Electronic Equipment) Directive and proposals by DG Energy and Transport (DG-TREN) for an EER (Energy Efficiency Requirements) Directive. These proposals were merged into one at the end of 2002. Both DGs jointly ³own² the Directive, but in practice most of the energy-related work is managed by DG-TREN.
This combination of these initial objectives means that while the Directive¹s primary aim is to reduce energy use, it also enforces other environmental considerations including: materials use; water use; polluting emissions; waste issues and recyclability. It is estimated that over 80% of all product-related environmental impacts are determined during the design phase of a product.
Key dates
- 2005 onwards: Commission issues tenders for preparatory studies for 14 categories of energy using products as basis for implementing measures
- March 2006: Commission to finalise make-up of Consultation Forum which will provide a reality check on proposed implementing measures.
- July 2007: Commission to publish a working plan which will set out for the following 3 years a list of priority product groups to be considered as priorities
for the adoption of implementing measures. - July 2010: The Commission to review the effectiveness of the Directive and its implementing measures.