Changes from plenary report to adopted text

Recital 1: (1) The European Green Deal25 is Europe’s sustainable growth strategy that aims to transform the Union into a fair and prosperous society, with a modern, competitive, climate-neutral and circular economy and toxic-free environment. It sets the ambitious objective of ensuring that the Union becomes the first climate neutral continent by 2050. It recognises the advantages of investing in the Union’s competitive sustainability by building a fairer, greener and more digital Europe. Products have a pivotal role to play in this green transition. Underlining that current production processes and consumption patterns remain too linear and dependent on a throughput of new materials extracted, traded and processed goods and finally disposed of as waste or emissions, the European Green Deal emphasises the urgent need to transition to a circular economy model and stresses the significant progress that remains to be made. It also identifies energy efficiency as a priority for the decarbonisation of the energy sector and for reaching the climate objectives in 2030 and 2050.

Recital 2: (2) To accelerate the transition to a circular economy model, the Commission designed a future-oriented agenda in its Circular Economy Action Plan for a cleaner and more competitive Europe26 (CEAP), with the objective of making the regulatory framework fit for a sustainable future. The plan underlines that, for citizens, the circular economy will provide high-quality, functional and safe products, which are efficient and affordable, last longer and are designed for reuse, repair, and high-quality recycling. As set out in this plan, there is currently no comprehensive set of requirements to ensure that all products placed on the Union market become increasingly sustainable and stand the test of circularity. In particular, product design does not sufficiently promote sustainability over the whole life cycle. As a result, products are being replaced frequently, involving significant energy and resource use in order to produce and distribute new products and dispose of old ones. It is still too difficult for economic operators and citizens to make sustainable choices in relation to products given that relevant information and affordable options to do so are lacking. This leads to missed opportunities for sustainability and for value-retaining operations, limited demand for secondary materials and obstacles to the adoption of circular business models.

Recital 3 a (new): (3a) Secure and sufficient availability of critical raw materials is key for a successful European twin transition while ensuring a competitive European industry. It is important that comprehensive information requirements on materials, including on critical raw materials, on products placed on the Union market be laid down in order to deliver on the approach outlined in the communication of the Commission of 3 September 2020 on Critical Raw Materials Resilience: Charting a Path towards greater Security and Sustainability 1a and the resolution of the European Parliament of 24 November 2021 on a European strategy for critical raw materials 1b. / 1a Commission communication of 3 September 2020 entitled ‘Critical Raw Materials Resilience: Charting a Path towards greater Security and Sustainability’ (COM (2020)0474) / 1b P9_TA(2021)0468

Recital 4: (4) In the absence of legislation at Union level, diverging national approaches to improving the environmental sustainability of products have already emerged, ranging from information requirements on the duration of software compatibility of electronic devices to reporting obligations on handling unsold durable goods. This is an indication that further national efforts to achieve the aims pursued by this Regulation will likely lead to further fragmentation of the internal market. Therefore, in order to safeguard the functioning of the internal market while ensuring a high level of environmental protection, there is a need for an ambitious regulatory framework to progressively introduce ecodesign requirements for products. This Regulation will, by making the ecodesign approach initially set out in Directive 2009/125/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council29 applicable to the broadest possible range of products, provide such a framework.

Recital 5: (5) This Regulation will support production and consumption patterns that are aligned with the Union’s overall sustainability targets, including climate, environmental, energy, resource-use and biodiversity, while staying within planetary boundaries, by establishing a legislative framework which contributes to enabling products fit for a climate-neutral, resource-efficient and circular economy, reducing waste and ensuring that the performance of frontrunners in sustainability progressively becomes the norm. It should provide for the setting of new ecodesign requirements to improve product durability, reusability, upgradability, recyclability, and repairability, improve possibilities for refurbishment and maintenance, address the presence of hazardous chemicals in products, increase their energy and resource efficiency, reduce their expected generation of waste materials and increase recycled content in products, while ensuring their performance and safety, enabling remanufacturing and high-quality recycling and reducing carbon and environmental footprints.

Recital 5 a (new): (5a) Practices making products prematurely obsolete or non-functional are negatively affecting consumers, and have a negative impact on the environment due to the increased material use in our economy. To ensure that products have a long lifespan for consumers, to reduce the generation of waste and to contribute to sustainable consumption, this Regulation should address such practices, in particular when they are the result of design choices by manufacturers, when software updates or accessories are not provided within an appropriate period of time, or when the functionality of a product is limited when consumers use consumables, spare parts or accessories not provided by the original manufacturer. As reparability is a cornerstone of a long lifespan for products, the Regulation should also ensure that disassembly of key components is not impeded, and access to repair information and spare parts is not limited to authorised repairers.

Recital 6: (6) The European Parliament, in its Resolution of 25 November 2020 ‘Towards a more sustainable single market for business and consumers’30, called for setting a right framework to ensure the production of durable products which are easier to repair, re-use and recycle, while providing increased rights for consumers, including information requirements and longer legal guarantee periods. In its report on the New Circular Economy Action Plan adopted on 16 February 202131, the European Parliament underlined that sustainable, circular, safe and non-toxic products and materials should become the norm in the Union market and not the exception and should be seen as the default choice, which is attractive, affordable and accessible for all consumers. The European Parliament also called for Union binding targets to significantly reduce Union material and consumption footprints. It considered that the transition to a circular economy can provide solutions to address the current environmental challenges and the economic crisis brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Council, in its conclusions on ‘Making the Recovery Circular and Green’ adopted on 11 December 202032, also welcomed the Commission’s intention to submit legislative proposals as part of a comprehensive and integrated sustainable product policy framework that promotes climate neutrality, energy and resource efficiency and a non-toxic circular economy, protects public health and biodiversity, and empowers and protects consume…

Recital 8: (8) This Regulation should also contribute to achieving the Union’s wider environmental objectives. The 8th Environmental Action Programme38 enshrines in a legal framework the Union’s objective of staying within the planetary boundaries and identifies enabling conditions to achieve priority objectives, which include the transition to a non-toxic circular economy. The European Green Deal also calls for the Union to better monitor, report, prevent and remedy air, water, soil and consumer products pollution. This means that chemicals, materials and products have to be or become safe and sustainable by design and during their life cycle, leading to non-toxic material cycles39 . In addition, both the European Green Deal and the CEAP recognise that the Union internal market provides a critical mass that is able to influence global standards on product sustainability and product design. This Regulation should therefore play a significant role towards achieving several targets established under the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals of the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development ‘Responsible consumption and production’40 , both inside and outside the Union.

Recital 12 a (new): (12a) The second-hand sector plays a specific role in promoting sustainable production and consumption, including in the development of new circular business models. Due to the specificities of this sector, which is based on prolonging the lifetime of a product and avoiding it becoming waste, second-hand products, in particular products that undergo refurbishment or repair, originating from within the Union should not be considered as new products that are placed on the market or put into service and should therefore not have to comply with ecodesign requirements Second-hand products imported from third countries should comply with ecodesign requirements, but it should be possible to exempt them provided that certain conditions are met.

Recital 13: (13) In order to improve the environmental sustainability of products and to ensure the free movement of products in the internal market, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 TFEU should be delegated to the Commission to supplement this Regulation by setting out ecodesign requirements. Those ecodesign requirements should in principle apply to specific product groups, such as washing machines or washing machines and washer dryers. In order to maximise the effectiveness of ecodesign requirements and to efficiently improve environmental sustainability of products, it should also be possible to set out one or more horizontal ecodesign requirements for a wider range of products groups, such as electronic appliances or textiles. Horizontal ecodesign requirements should be established where the technical similarities of product groups allow their environmental sustainability to be improved based on the same requirements. It is important that horizontal requirements be developed in particular on durability and repairability. Sufficient time should be provided to economic operators to adjust to new ecodesign requirements. Those horizontal requirements should take into account potential environmental benefits stemming from the use of one common charger for several products. Therefore, product groups with technical similarities should be required to be equipped with common chargers.

Recital 14: (14) In order to allow the Commission to set requirements as appropriate to the product groups covered, ecodesign requirements should include performance and information requirements. Those requirements should be used to improve relevant product aspects concerning environmental sustainability, such as energy efficiency, durability, repairability, reusability, recyclability, and carbon and environmental footprints. Ecodesign requirements should be transparent, objective, proportionate and in compliance with international trade rules. Those requirements should also be based on the product parameters referred to in Annex I and, in setting them, the Commission should take into account the Union’s objectives in the fields of climate, environment and biodiversity, energy efficiency and resource security. Such requirements should contribute to decreasing the Union’s environmental, material and consumption footprints in order to bring them within planetary boundaries as soon as possible.

Recital 15: (15) Once a delegated act setting ecodesign requirements is adopted by the Commission for a given product group, Member States should, in order to ensure the functioning of the internal market, no longer be allowed to set national performance requirements based on product parameters covered by such performance requirements laid down in that delegated act, and no longer be allowed to set national information requirements based on product parameters covered by such information requirements laid down in that delegated act. In order to ensure the functioning of the internal market, the Commission should be empowered to establish that no ecodesign requirements in the form of performance requirements and/or in the form of information requirements are necessary in relation to a specific product parameter. It is important that the Commission duly justify its decision where it decides not to lay down performance or information requirements.

Recital 17: (17) Consistency should be ensured between this Regulation and requirements set in or pursuant to other Union legislation, especially products, chemicals, packaging and waste legislation51. However, the existence of empowerments under other Union legislation to set requirements with the same or similar effects as requirements under this Regulation does not limit the empowerments included in this Regulation, unless specified in this Regulation.

Recital 19: (19) In order to take into account the diversity of products, the Commission should select the methods to assess the setting of the ecodesign requirements and, as appropriate, develop them further based on the nature of the product, its most relevant aspects and its impacts over its life cycle. In doing so, the Commission should take account of its experience in assessing the setting of requirements under Directive 2009/125/EC and the continuing efforts to develop and improve science-based assessment tools, such as the update of the methodology for ecodesign of energy-related products, and the Product Environmental Footprint method set out in Commission Recommendation (EU) 2021/227956 , including as regards temporary storage of carbon, as well as the development of standards by international and European standardisation organisations, including on the material efficiency of energy-related products, as well as the area of electrical engineering. Building on these tools and using dedicated studies when needed, the Commission should further reinforce circularity aspects (such as durability, repairability including repairability scoring, recyclability, reusability, identification of chemicals hindering re-use and recycling) in the assessment of products, in accordance with a lifecycle approach with a view to the preparation of ecodesign requirements, and should develop new methods or tools where appropriate. New approaches may also be needed for the preparation of mandatory publi…

Recital 20: (20) Performance requirements should relate to a selected product parameter relevant to the targeted product aspect for which potential for improving environmental sustainability has been identified. Such requirements may include minimum or maximum levels of performance in relation to the product parameter, non-quantitative requirements that aim to improve performance in relation to the product parameter, or requirements related to a product’s functional performance to ensure that the selected performance requirements do not negatively impact the ability of the product to perform the function for which it was designed and marketed. Regarding minimum or maximum levels, they may for example take the form of a limit on energy consumption in the use phase or on the quantities of a given material incorporated in the product, a requirement for minimum quantities of recycled content while taking into consideration the availability of recyclates, or a limit on a specific environmental impact category or on an aggregation of all relevant environmental impacts. An example of a non-quantitative requirement is the prohibition of a specific technical solution that is detrimental to product repairability. Performance requirements will be used to ensure the removal of the worst performing products from the market and to gradually move to the best performing products where this is necessary to contribute to the environmental sustainability objectives of the Regulation. This Regulation should…

Recital 22: (22) Chemical safety is a recognised element of product sustainability. It is based on chemicals’ intrinsic hazards to health or the environment in combination with specific or generic exposure, and is addressed by chemicals legislation, such as Regulation (EC) No 1935/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council58, Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council59, Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council60, Regulation (EU) 2017/745 of the European Parliament and of the Council61 and Directive 2009/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council62. This Regulation should not enable the restriction of substances based on chemical safety, as done under other Union legislation, unless there is an unacceptable risk to human health or the environment, arising from the use of a substance present in the product or product component when it is placed on the market or during the subsequent stages of its lifecycle. This Regulation should not enable the restriction of substances for reasons related to food safety. Union law on chemicals and food, however, does not allow addressing, through restrictions on certain substances, impacts on sustainability that are unrelated to chemical safety or food safety. To overcome this limitation, this Regulation should allow, under certain conditions, for the restriction, of substances present in products which negatively affect products’ sustainability. This Regulation should com…

Recital 23: (23) To improve environmental sustainability of products, information requirements should relate to a selected product parameter relevant to the product aspect, such as the product’s environmental and carbon footprint and its durability. They should require manufacturer to make available information on the product’s performance in relation to a selected product parameter or other information that may influence the way the product is handled by parties other than the manufacturer in order to improve performance in relation to such a parameter. Such information requirements should be set either in addition to, or in place of, performance requirements on the same product parameter as appropriate. It is important that the Commission duly justify its decision to only lay down information requirements instead of performance requirements. Where a delegated act includes information requirements, it should indicate the method for making the required information available and easily accessible, such as its inclusion on a free-access website, product passport or product label. Essential information relating to the health, safety and rights of end-users should always be provided to consumers by physical means and be accessible through a data carrier included on the product. Information requirements are necessary to lead to the behavioural change needed to ensure that the environmental sustainability objectives of this Regulation are achieved. Information relevant for an informed purchasi…

Recital 24: (24) Where delegated acts include information requirements, they may in addition determine classes of performance in relation to one or more relevant product parameters, in order to facilitate comparison between products on the basis of that parameter. Classes of performance should enable differentiation of products based on their relative sustainability and could be used by both consumers and public authorities. As such, they are intended to drive the market towards more sustainable products without compromising functionality. As information requirements on the durability and repairability of products play a central role as regards consumers engaging in sustainable consumption patterns, this Regulation should enable the establishment of repairability scores.

Recital 26: (26) The information requirements set under this Regulation should include the requirement to make available a product passport. The product passport is an important tool for making information available to actors along the entire value chain and the availability of a product passport should significantly enhance end- to-end traceability of a product throughout its value chain. Among other things, the product passport should help consumers make informed choices by improving their access to relevant product, allow economic operators and other value chain actors, such as professional repairers, independent operators, refurbishers or recyclers to access relevant information and enable competent national authorities to perform their duties, without endangering the protection of confidential business information. To this end, the product passport should not replace, but complement non-digital forms of transmitting information, such as information in the product manual or the label. In addition, it should be possible for the product passport to be used for information on other sustainability aspects applicable to the relevant product group pursuant to other Union legislation.

Recital 27: (27) To take account of the nature of the product and its market, the information to be included in the product passport should be carefully examined on a case-by-case basis when preparing product-specific rules, taking into consideration the cases of unique items and protection of confidential business information. To optimise access to the resulting information while also protecting intellectual property rights, the product passport needs to be designed and implemented allowing differentiated access to the information included in the product passport depending on the type of information and the typology of stakeholders. Similarly, to avoid costs to companies and the public that are disproportionate to the wider benefits, the product passport should be specific to the item, batch or product model, depending on for example the complexity of the value chain, the size, nature or impacts of the products considered. The product passport should remain available for at least the expected lifetime of a specific product, but with an adequate margin to ensure the product passport is available in cases in which the product lasts for longer than expected.

Recital 28: (28) In order to ensure interoperability, the types of permitted data carriers should be specified. For the same reason, the data carrier and the unique product identifier should be released in accordance with internationally recognised standards. The data should be transferable through an open interoperable data exchange network without vendor lock-in. The power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 TFEU should be delegated to the Commission to amend this Regulation by replacing or adding standards in accordance with which the data carrier and the unique identifiers may be released, in light of technical or scientific progress. This should ensure that the information contained in the product passport can be recorded and transmitted by all economic operators, as well as to guarantee the compatibility of the unique identifier with external components such as scanning devices.

Recital 29: (29) In order to not unnecessarily delay the establishment of ecodesign requirements other than on the product passport or to ensure that product passports can be effectively implemented, the Commission should be allowed to exempt product groups from the product passport requirements in case technical specifications are not available in relation to the essential requirements for the technical design and operation of the product passport. Similarly, in order to prevent unnecessary administrative burden for economic operator, the Commission should be allowed to exempt product groups from the product passport requirements exceptionally in case other Union law already includes a system for the digital provision of product information allowing actors along the value chain to access relevant product information and facilitating the verification of product compliance by competent national authorities. These exemptions should be periodically reviewed taking into account further availability of technical specifications and ended where possible.

Recital 33: (33) To ensure the effective roll-out of the product passport, technical design, data requirements and operation of the product passport should adhere to a set of essential technical requirements. Such requirements should provide a basis for the consistent deployment of the product passport across sectors. Technical specifications should be established to ensure the effective implementation of those essential requirements, either in the form of harmonised standard referenced in the Official Journal or, as a fall-back option, common specification adopted by the Commission. The technical design should ensure that the product passport carries data in a secure way, respecting privacy rules. The digital product passport will be developed in an open dialogue with international partners, in order to take account of their views when developing technical specifications and to ensure that they help remove trade barriers for greener products with extended lifecycles and circularity, lower costs for sustainable investments, marketing and compliance and supporting innovation. Technical specifications and requirements related to traceability across the value chain should, in order to allow for their effective implementation, to the extent possible be developed based on a consensual approach and on the involvement, buy-in, and effective collaboration of a diverse set of actors, including standardisation bodies, industry associations, start-ups, consumer organisations, experts, NGOs and inte…

Recital 35: (35) Any processing of personal data pursuant to this Regulation should comply with the applicable rules on the protection of personal data. Processing of personal data by the competent national authorities within Member States should be carried out in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council66 with particular attention being paid to the principles of data protection by design and by default. Processing of personal data by the Commission should be carried out in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council67. Personal data of end-users should not be stored in the digital product passport.

Recital 39: (39) To drive consumers towards sustainable choices, labels should, when required by the delegated acts adopted pursuant to this Regulation, provide clear and easily understandable information allowing for the effective comparison of products, for instance by indicating classes of performance. Specifically for consumers, physical labels can be an additional source of information at the place of sale. They can provide a quick visual basis for consumers to distinguish between products based on their performance in relation to a specific product parameter or set of product parameters. They should, where appropriate, also allow for the accessing of additional information by bearing specific references like website addresses, dynamic QR codes, links to online labels or any appropriate consumer-oriented means. The Commission should set out in the relevant delegated act the most effective way of displaying such labels, including in the case of online distance selling, taking into account the implications for customers and economic operators and the characteristics of the products concerned. The Commission may also require the label to be printed on the packaging of the product.

Recital 41: (41) Consumers should be protected from misleading information that could hamper their choices for more sustainable products. For this reasons it should be prohibited to place on the market products bearing a label with misleading or contradictory information or mimicking the labels provided for in this Regulation. However, it should be possible to continue to display an EU Ecolabel or other existing type I ecolabels as set out in Regulation (EC) No 66/2010.

Recital 42: (42) To deliver in the most efficient way on the European Green Deal’s objectives and to address the most impactful products first, the Commission should carry out a prioritisation of products to be regulated under this Regulation and requirements that will apply to them. Based on the process followed for prioritisation under Directive 2009/125/EC, the Commission should adopt a working plan, covering at least 3 years, laying down a list of product groups for which it plans to adopt delegated acts as well as the product aspects for which it intends to adopt delegated acts of horizontal application, and the estimated timelines for their establishment. The working plan and its updates should be publicly available and presented to the European Parliament before their adoption. The Commission should consider in particular those product groups identified in this Regulation, and base its prioritisation on a set of criteria pertaining in particular to the delegated acts’ contribution to the Union climate, environmental and energy objectives and their potential for improving the product aspects selected without disproportionate costs to the public and economic operators. Considering their importance for meeting the Union’s energy objectives, the working plans should include an adequate share of actions related to energy-related products. Member States and stakeholders should also be consulted through the Ecodesign Forum. Due to the complementarities between this Regulation and Regulat…

Recital 42 a (new): (42a) The cement industry, as one of the most energy-, material- and carbon- intensive sectors, is currently responsible for around 7% of global and 4% of EU CO2 emissions1a, which makes it a key sector for alignment with the Paris climate agreement and the Union’s climate objectives as quickly as possible. While construction products, including cement, are to be covered under [the forthcoming Regulation laying down harmonised conditions for the marketing of construction products, amending Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 and repealing Regulation (EU) 305/2011 (2022/0094 COD)], they remain under the scope of this Regulation. To avoid a lack of product requirements urgently needed to reach our climate and environment objectives, any absence of adequate performance and information requirements for these products under [the forthcoming Regulation laying down harmonised conditions for the marketing of construction products, amending Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 and repealing Regulation (EU) 305/2011 (2022/0094 COD)] should trigger their inclusion in the next working plan of this Regulation. / 1a Decarbonisation options for the cement industry, EUR 31378 EN, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2023, ISBN 978-92-76-61599-6, doi:10.2760/174037, JRC131246.

Recital 43: (43) When formulating working plans, the Commission should take into account that, in continuation of current practice, [the revised Construction Products Regulation] will, in relation to energy-related products that are also construction products, give prevalence to sustainability requirements set under this Regulation. This should be the case for instance for heaters, boilers, heat pumps, water and space heating appliances, fans, cooling and ventilating systems and photovoltaic products (excluding building-integrated photovoltaic panels). For these products, [the revised Construction Products Regulation] may intervene in a complementary manner where needed, mainly in relation to safety aspects, also taking account of other Union legislation on products such as on gas appliances, low voltage, and machinery.

Recital 44: (44) In order to encourage self-regulation as a valid alternative to regulatory approaches, this Regulation should, in continuation of Directive 2009/125/EC, include the possibility for industry to submit self-regulation measures when those products or product groups are not included in the ecodesign working plan. Self-regulation measures should be aligned with the objectives of this Regulation. The Commission should assess the self- regulation measures proposed by industry, along with the information and evidence submitted by the signatories, including in light of the international trade commitments of the Union and the need to ensure coherence with Union law. The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts to adopt and update an act listing the self-regulation measures considered as valid alternatives to a delegated act setting ecodesign requirements. It is also appropriate, for instance in view of relevant market or technological developments within the product group concerned, that the Commission be able to request a revised version of the self-regulation measure whenever considered necessary. Once a self-regulation measure is listed in a delegated act, there is a legitimate expectation for economic operators that the Commission will not adopt a delegated act establishing ecodesign requirements for this specific product group. However, it is not excluded that the Commission may adopt horizontal ecodesign requirements also applying to the products covered by a recognis…

Recital 45: (45) Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) could greatly benefit from an increase in the demand for sustainable products but could also face costs and difficulties with some of the requirements. In order to support SMEs, the Member States and the Commission should, in their respective areas of responsibility, provide adequate information, ensure targeted and specialised training, and provide specific assistance and support, including, through existing funding and financing tools financial, to micro-enterprises and SMEs active in the manufacturing of products for which ecodesign requirements are set. Those measures should at least include specific mechanisms to facilitate compliance with the requirements set out in the product passport and with conducting life-cycle assessments. Member States actions should be taken in respect of applicable State aid rules.

Recital 46: (46) The destruction of unsold consumer products, such as textiles and footwear as well as electrical and electronic equipment or devices by economic operators is becoming a widespread environmental problem across the Union, in particular due to the rapid growth of online sales. It amounts to a loss of valuable economic resources as goods are produced, transported and afterwards destroyed without ever being used for their intended purpose. It is therefore necessary, in the interest of environmental protection, that this Regulation establishes a framework to prevent the destruction of unsold products primarily intended for consumers pursuant to Directive (EU) 2019/771 of the European Parliament and of the Council69 , including products that have been returned by a consumer in view of their right of withdrawal as laid down by Directive (EU) 2011/83/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council70 . This will reduce the environmental impact of those products by reducing the generation of waste and by dis-incentivising overproduction of products. In addition, given that several Member States have introduced national legislation on the destruction of unsold consumer products thereby creating market distortions, harmonised rules on the destruction of unsold consumer products are necessary to ensure that distributors, retailers and other economic operators are subject to the same rules and incentives across Member States.

Recital 47: (47) To dis-incentivise the destruction of unsold consumer products and to further generate data on the occurrence of this practice, this Regulation should introduce a transparency obligation for economic operators holding consumer products in the Union, requiring them to disclose information on the number of unsold consumer products discarded per year on a website of the Commission. Economic operators should indicate the product type or category, the reasons for their discarding and their delivery for subsequent waste treatment operations. It should also be considered a best practice to include the required information in a publicly available non-financial statement drafted in accordance with Article 19a of Directive 2013/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council71 where applicable.

Recital 48: (48) In order to avoid the destruction of unsold consumer products, where the destruction of such products is prevalent, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 TFEU should be delegated to the Commission to supplement this Regulation by prohibiting the destruction of such products. Given the wide range of products that may potentially be destroyed without ever being sold or used, it is necessary to establish such empowerment in this Regulation. However, the prohibition set in the delegated acts should apply to specific product groups to be determined based on an assessment by the Commission of the extent to which the destruction of such products takes place in practice, taking into account the information made available by economic operators where appropriate. To ensure that this obligation is proportionate, the Commission should consider specific exemptions under which destroying unsold consumer products may still be permitted, for instance in view of health and safety concerns. The Commission should also provide economic operators with sufficient time to adjust to the new requirements of such a ban. To monitor the effectiveness of this prohibition and to dis-incentivise circumvention, economic operators should be required to disclose the number of unsold consumer products destroyed and the reasons for their destruction under applicable exemptions. Finally, to avoid any undue administrative burden on small, medium and micro-enterprises, they should be exempted…

Recital 59: (59) It is essential that online marketplaces cooperate closely with the market surveillance authorities. An obligation of cooperation with market surveillance authorities is imposed on information society service providers under Article 7(2) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 of the European Parliament and of the Council74 in relation to products covered by that Regulation, including products for which ecodesign requirements are set. In order to keep pace with technological development and new means of sale, the compliance by design obligations laid down for providers of online marketplaces in Article 31 of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 of the European Parliament and of the Council74a should apply for the purpose of information required by Article 25 and 30(1) of this Regulation and, where applicable, for the requirements laid down in the delegated acts adopted pursuant to Article 4 of this Regulation. The enforcement of those obligations should be subject to the rules laid down in Chapter IV of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065. For the purposes of Article 31, paragraph 3, of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065, providers of online marketplaces should make use at least of the information and communication system referred to in Article 34 of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020. It should be possible for the single point of contact under this Regulation to be the same as the point of contact under Article 11 of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065, without endangering the objective of treating issues linked to product safet…

Recital 68: (68) The current Union standardisation framework which is based on the principles of the so-called ‘New Approach’ and on Regulation (EU) 1025/2012 represents the framework to elaborate standards that provide a presumption of conformity with the relevant requirements set out in this Regulation. In the absence of relevant references to harmonised standards, recourse to common specifications, via the adoption of implementing acts, should be used as a fall-back solution to facilitate the manufacturer’s obligation to comply with ecodesign requirements, for instance when the standardisation process is blocked due to lack of consensus between stakeholders or where there are undue delays in establishing a harmonised standard and the prescribed deadline cannot be respected. Such delays could for example occur when the required quality is not reached. In addition, recourse to this solution should be possible where the Commission has restricted or withdrawn the references to relevant harmonised standards in line with Article 11(5) of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012. Compliance with common specifications should also give rise to the presumption of conformity. In order to ensure efficiency, the Commission should involve relevant stakeholders in the process of establishing the common specifications that cover the ecodesign requirements of this Regulation.

Recital 86: (86) In order to incentivise consumers to make sustainable choices, in particular when the more sustainable products are not affordable enough, mechanisms such as eco-vouchers that can only be used to purchase products and services respecting the environment, and green taxation should be provided for. When Member States decide to make use of incentives to reward the best-performing products among those for which classes of performance have been set by delegated acts pursuant to this Regulation, they should do so by targeting those incentives at the highest two populated classes of performance, unless otherwise indicated by the relevant delegated act. However, Member States should not be able to prohibit the placing on the market of a product based on its class of performance. For the same reason, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 TFEU should be delegated to the Commission to supplement this Regulation by further specifying which product parameters or related levels of performance Member States’ incentives concern in case no class of performance is determined in the applicable delegated act or where classes of performance are established in relation to more than one product parameter. The introduction of Member State incentives should be without prejudice to the application of the Union State aid rules.

Recital 87: (87) Public procurement amounts to 14% of the Union’s GDP. To contribute to the objective of reaching climate neutrality, improving energy and resource efficiency and transitioning to a circular economy that protects public health and biodiversity, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 TFEU should be delegated to the Commission to require , where appropriate, contracting authorities and entities as defined in Directive 2014/24/EU78 and 2014/25/EU79 of the European Parliament and of the Council, to align their procurement with specific green public procurement criteria or targets, to be set out in the delegated acts adopted pursuant to this Regulation. The criteria or targets set by delegated acts for specific product groups should be complied with not only when directly procuring those products in public supply contracts but also in public works or public services contracts where those products will be used for activities constituting the subject matter of those contracts. Compared to a voluntary approach, mandatory criteria or targets will ensure that the leverage of public spending to boost demand for better performing products is maximised in all Member States. The criteria should be transparent, objective and non-discriminatory.

Recital 88: (88) Effective enforcement of ecodesign requirements is essential to ensure equal competition in the Union market and to ensure that this Regulation’s expected benefits and contribution to achieving the Union’s climate, energy and circularity objectives are achieved. Therefore, Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 setting out a horizontal framework for market surveillance and control of products entering the Union market should apply to products for which ecodesign requirements are set pursuant to this Regulation, in so far as there are no specific provisions with the same objective, nature or effect in this Regulation. In addition, to lower the problematic levels of non-compliance of products covered by implementing measures adopted under Directive 2009/125/EC, to better prevent non-compliance with future ecodesign requirements, and taking account of the broader scope and increased ambition of this Regulation compared to Directive 2009/125/EC, this Regulation should contain specific additional rules complementing the framework created by Regulation (EU) 2019/1020. Those specific additional rules should be aimed at further strengthening the planning, coordination and support of Member State efforts and should provide additional tools for the Commission to ensure sufficient action is taken by market surveillance authorities to prevent non-compliance with ecodesign requirements and re-establish compliance where relevant.

Recital 90: (90) To ensure that appropriate checks are performed on an adequate scale in relation to ecodesign requirements, Member States should draw up a dedicated action plan identifying the products or requirements identified as priorities for market surveillance under this Regulation and the activities planned to reduce or bring to an end non-compliance of relevant products or with relevant ecodesign requirements. Where relevant, this action plan should be part of Member States’ national market surveillance strategies adopted pursuant to Article 13 of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020.