EU states are set to adopt first-ever eco-design standards for appliances on Monday in a technical regulation under the 2005 energy-using products (EuP) directive. The standards will fix maximum power consumption for standby mode across a range of products.

The new "implementing measure" is the first to be proposed by the European commission and follows a series of studies and consultations. Several others will follow. Most will address individual product groups but the first is a horizontal standard across products from large household goods to computer equipment and consumer electronics.

A committee of member state experts will consider the plans on Monday. Once they agree a text, MEPs will scrutinise the law. The rules would then enter force twenty days after publication in the EU's official journal.

Under the commission proposal (see link below) the standards would be applied in two stages. In the first stage, within one year products with a simple standby or "off" mode, with only a simple indicator showing that reactivation is possible, would be limited to a consumption of one watt (W). If the standby feature included an information or status display, consumption would be limited to 2W. In the second stage, with a deadline three years later, these limits would be halved to 0.5W and 1W.

The proposal also includes a controversial requirement for all equipment to include a standby or "off" feature, despite pressure from manufacturers to drop this on the grounds that it will constrain innovation. The requirement would be waived where it is "inappropriate" for the product, but producers say it could be difficult to prove this and that national authorities may interpret it differently, creating a market-access patchwork.

Meanwhile a coalition of environmental groups wants the second-stage limit to apply a year earlier than proposed, and wants a review of the standards carried out within five years, not six as proposed by the commission.

The commission says there are expected to be 4.6bn products with standby mode in Europe in 2020 and that without the proposed measures their standby consumption would be 49 terawatt-hours (TWh) annually. The new standards would lead to a reduction of 35TWh annually, it says, and will have knock-on benefits outside Europe because other markets will use EU specifications for their products.

Follow-up: See draft EuP implementing measure on standby, plus Eicta and Ecos.