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Commission confirms ecodesign and energy labelling work will continue

(5 Oct 2018) The EU Commmission has confirmed that negotiations for energy and resource efficient products including TVs and fridges will go ahead, despite delays. Consumers and companies could soon benefit from large savings, given that EU governments will give them the green light by the end of the year.

A few days ago, the European Commission seemed ready to scrap long-planned Ecodesign and Energy Labelling requirements. eceee co-signed a joint letter to European Commission President Juncker, Secretary General Selmayr and three Commissioners calling for them to save the ecodesign package (view the press release here).

However, the negotiations will go ahead following pressure from MEPs, environmental and consumer groups, as well as some progressive countries and businesses, according to Coolproducts and other sources. The proposals appear to be safe for now, and if everything goes according to plan they should be voted on by EU governments before the end of the year, though the exact number of measures to be voted on are still uncertain.

Some countries are set to oppose proposals to improve repairability and recyclability, while supporting energy efficiency requirements, Coolproducts reports.

If approved, the proposed energy efficiency requirements alone, covering 16 products, can save an additional 62 million tonnes in CO₂ emissions a year, according to the Coolproducts campaign. Apart from the obvious climate benefits, this would also make Europe less dependent on energy imports given current geopolitical uncertainties and potential for volatility in fossil markets.

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