03 May 2021
- Adopted
- Very high importance
- Europe
- Binding legal instruments (regulations, directives and decisions)
- Consumer products
- Entry Into Database 03 May 2021
- Last revised in database 03 May 2021
- Final act signed 25 Nov 2009
- Final act published 30 Jan 2010
- Entry of act into force 19 Feb 2010
Purpose
The purpose of the regulation is to lay down rules for the establishment and application of a voluntary EU Ecolabel scheme for products consumed or distributed on the European market.
Key definitions
- Product group: A set of products that serve similar purposes and are similar in terms of use, or have similar functional properties, and are similar in terms of consumer perception.
- Environmental impact: Any change to the environment resulting wholly or partially from a product during its life cycle.
Decision-support tools
- Life cycle assessment
Risk management procedures
- EU Ecolabel criteria shall set out the environmental requirements that a product must fulfil in order to bear the EU Ecolabel. For determination of the criteria, the following must be considered: the most significant environmental impacts, the substitution of hazardous substances by safer substances, the potential to reduce environmental impacts due to durability and reusability of products, among others.
Monitoring requirements
- The user of the EU Ecolabel shall permit the competent body which has awarded the EU Ecolabel to the product to make all necessary investigations to monitor compliance with the product group criteria and the requirements for EU Ecolabel award and terms and conditions of its use.
- For products that have been awarded the EU Ecolabel, the competent body shall on a regular basis verify that the product complies with the EU Ecolabel criteria and assessment requirements.
Enforcement
- If the competent body find that a product bearing the EU Ecolabel does not comply with the relevant product criteria or that the EU Ecolabel is not used in accordance with the terms and conditions of its use, it shall: 1)prohibit the use of the EU Ecolabel on that product, or, 2) in the event that the EU Ecolabel has been awarded by another competent body, it shall inform that competent body.
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The European Commission
Establishing a European Union Ecolabelling BoardThe European Commission shall establish a European Union Ecolabelling Board (EUEB) with the representatives of the Member State competent bodies and other interested parties. The EUEB shall among others contribute to the development and revision of EU Ecolabel criteria and to any review of the implementation of the EU Ecolabel scheme.
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The European Commission
Establishing common register over EU Ecolabel awardsThe European Commission shall establish a common register and update it regularly. That register shall be publicly available on a website dedicated to the EU Ecolabel.
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EU Ecolabel operators
Application to use the EU EcolabelOperators who wish to use the EU Ecolabel must apply to the competent bodies in accordance with the following rules: a) where a product originates in a single Member State, the application shall be presented to a competent body of that Member State; b) where a product originates in the same form in several Member States, the application may be presented to a competent body in one of those Member States; c) where a product originates outside the Community, the application shall be presented to a competent body in any of the Member States in which the product is to be or has been placed on the market.
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The competent body
Notification to the European CommissionThe competent body which has awarded the EU Ecolabel to a product shall notify the European Commission thereof.
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Legislative proposal published
July 16 th, 2008Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a framework for the setting of ecodesign requirements for energy related products
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52008PC0399 -
Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading
September 02 th, 2008Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading
https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/ficheprocedure.do?lang=en&reference=2008/0151(COD -
Vote in committee, 1st reading
February 17 th, 2009The Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety adopted the report amending, under the first reading of the codecision procedure, the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a framework for the setting of ecodesign requirements for energy related products
https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/summary.do?id=1053151&t=e&l=en -
Decision by Parliament, 1st reading
April 24 th, 2009The European Parliament adopted by 394 votes to 13, with 3 abstentions, a legislative resolution modifying, under the first reading of the codecision procedure, the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a framework for the setting of ecodesign requirements for energy related products (recast)
https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/summary.do?id=1075950&t=e&l=en -
Act adopted by Council after Parliament's 1st reading
September 24 th, 2009Act adopted by Council after Parliament's 1st reading
https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/ficheprocedure.do?lang=en&reference=2008/0151(COD -
Final act signed
October 21 th, 2009Final act signed
https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/ficheprocedure.do?lang=en&reference=2008/0151(COD -
End of procedure in Parliament
October 21 th, 2009End of procedure in Parliament
https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/ficheprocedure.do?lang=en&reference=2008/0151(COD -
Final act published in Official Journal
October 31 th, 2009Final act published in Official Journal
https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/ficheprocedure.do?lang=en&reference=2008/0151(COD
What stakeholders say
CEFIC
Cefic, the European Chemical Industry Council, founded in 1972, is the voice of large, medium and small chemical companies across Europe
Nanomaterials are per se not hazardous and should not generally be banned. A specific risk assessment should be performed as performed by EFSA, SCCS among others
Nanotechnology Industries Association
The Nanotechnology Industries Association (NIA) is the cross-sectoral, responsible voice for nanotechnology value chains and the global commercial eco-system. NIA Members are made up of companies of all sizes and sectors involved in materials and nano-enabled products, research centres and universities, expert service providers and other support organsiations such as national associations.
There is no reason to generally exclude ‘nanomaterials’ from the EU Ecolabel for nanomaterials, similarly to other chemical substances, may or may not be harmful to the environment independently from their size.
Nanomaterials need to be included in the EU Ecolabel for they are designed for their positive ecological impact:
- nanomaterials can be produced from less educt chemistry,
- nanomaterials can be produced with less energy consumption,
- nanomaterials need less material to fulfil the same functionality.
Nanomaterials tick all the boxes of “Green Chemistry”. The EU Ecolabel should therefore not consider products incorporating nanomaterials differently from other productions when evaluating their environmental impact, by doing so, it would create an unfair competition which would be detrimental to the final objective of the EU Ecolabel: to promote products which have a reduced environmental impact.