Market surveillance – the prerequisite for realising the large expected savings from the Ecodesign Directive

Panel: 6. Appliances, product policy and ICT

This is a peer-reviewed paper.

Authors:
Karolina Petersson, Swedish Energy Agency, Sweden
Peter Nielsen, Danish Energy Agency, Denmark

Abstract

The Ecodesign Directive for energy related products will contribute with 5% reduction in energy consumption in Europe by 2020. A condition for this result to be achieved is, of course, that all products put on the market comply with the requirements. The national market surveillance authorities for Ecodesign (MSAs) shall monitor and verify that the products on the market are compliant. Well-functioning market surveillance will guarantee fair competition and protect consumers from defective products.

Alarmingly, the review of the Ecodesign Directive in 2011 concluded that market surveillance was insufficient and ineffective. It was estimated that 10-20% of products covered by implementing measures are non-compliant.

Market surveillance of the Ecodesign Directive is a challenge. Experience and resources are limited. Product testing is expensive. Effective methods for monitoring, verification and enforcement are needed, as well as increased cooperation between MSAs. In this context, 10 national MSAs, coordinated by UK Defra, initiated the Ecopliant project.

Ecopliant will help deliver the intended economic and environmental benefits of the Ecodesign Directive by strengthening market surveillance and so increasing compliance. Outputs from Ecopliant will be:

• Guidelines on best practice

• Pilot action on coordinated market surveillance

• Creation of electronic tools for MSAs to share results

• Training tools for MSA personnel

The Ecopliant project has been granted economic support from IEE during 2012-2015.

The project is now examining how the MSAs are working to ensure compliance with the Directive. National acts and enforcement systems, existing strategies and practices in different MS are studied. A comprehensive survey and a set of interviews are designed to establish the situation in the European MSAs. The paper will give an overview of existing European best practice for Ecodesign market surveillance.