The Blog

The new Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) (EU) 2024/1781, which entered into force on 18 July 2024, aims to make sustainable products the norm in the EU and boost Europe’s resource independence. It is rooted primarily in the European Commission’s Circular Economy Action Plan of March 2020, which in turn is based on the European Green Deal of 2019. Given the wide scope of the Regulation and the novelty of the requirements, there are various misconceptions about ESPR in the industry today. We would like to raise the most important ones and clarify the current understanding.

• Myth: “The Regulation will cover finished or consumer products only.”
  • Truth: Any physical good placed on the EU market or put into service may be addressed. This also includes components, intermediate products and very complex high-end products such as space products or medical devices. There are only very limited exclusions, such as for food, feed, medicinal products and certain vehicles subject to harmonised type-approval systems.
• Myth: “Chemicals are out of scope as they are covered by REACH and CLP.”
  • Truth: Chemicals – being “physical goods” – are in scope and now even proposed in the Regulation as a priority product group to be regulated for the period starting 2025. However, restrictions based primarily on chemical safety remain subject to REACH.
• Myth: “Ecodesign requirements and DPP will start applying upon adoption of the ESPR.”
  • Truth: Commission delegated acts will be required post adoption of the ESPR to specify the requirements and make them applicable to defined product groups (product-specific approach). Their preparation is already underway for some product groups (textiles, steel). The first ESPR ecodesign measures are expected to be in place around 2027/28.
• Myth: “ESPR requirements will apply to all products at once.”
  • Truth: The implementation of ESPR will follow a prioritisation approach, according to multi-annual Commission working plans. According to ESPR Art. 18(5) the product groups to be included in the 1st ESPR working plan by 19 April 2025 are: Iron and steel; aluminium; textiles, in particular garments and footwear; furniture, including mattresses; tyres; detergents; paints; lubricants; chemicals; energy related products for which ecodesign requirements are to be set for the first time or for which existing measures adopted pursuant to Directive 2009/125/EC are to be reviewed under ESPR; ICT products and other electronics. 
• Myth: “Social aspects will not be addressed, only the environmental sustainability of products.”
  • Truth: Yes, but the inclusion of social aspects should be evaluated by 19 July 2028, for now they are to be considered under the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) (EU) 2024/1760. 
• Myth: “The EU Digital Product Passport will replace existing REACH Art. 33 and SCIP reporting duties for articles.”
  • Truth: This is not expected anytime soon, but those duties will be initially co-existing. The DPP is a decentralised tool and will be rolled out only over time for regulated product groups. According to the ESPR (recital (34)) the Commission should – where feasible – link the DPP to existing Union databases and tools such as the European Product Registry for Energy Labelling (EPREL) or the SCIP Database.
• Myth: “Access to product data via the DPP will be the same for all interested parties.”
  • Truth: Differentiated access rights will be granted for consumers, (other) economic operators and authorities, depending on what they need to know. There will be no public access as in the case of the SCIP Database. However, the Commission should set up by 19 July 2026 and manage a DPP registry to store certain data for enforcement and monitoring purposes.
• Myth: “Substances of Concern (SoC) to be reported are identical with REACH SVHCs.”
  • Truth: The SoC definition is much broader as it also covers a number of additional CLP hazard classes (e.g. skin sensitisers cat. 1, chronic hazard to the aquatic environment cat. 1 to 4, persistent chemicals according to the CLP Revision), substances regulated under the POPs Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 and substances inhibiting circularity (i.e. that negatively affect the re-use and recycling of materials in the product in which they are present), as defined in Article 2(27) of the ESPR Proposal.
• Myth: “SoCs will always be the same group of substances, no matter the product group.”
  • Truth: The Commission may provide exemptions for substances of concern or information elements from the information requirements. Also, substances inhibiting circularity will be determined per product group.
• Myth: “Similar to REACH, ESPR obligations will not directly apply to non-EU manufacturers.”
  • Truth: The “manufacturer” definition under ESPR is not limited to EU entities!

At REACHLaw we can help you assess the impact of ESPR for your products, monitor the adoption process and start getting prepared for the upcoming regulation. Please let us know in case you are interested in our support, by sending an e-mail to tim.becker@reachlaw.fi.

References for further information:

• REACHLaw webpage on ESPR, available here – with further references.