(1)

Council Directive 92/75/EEC of 22 September 1992 on the indication by labelling and standard product information of the consumption of energy and other resources by household appliances (3) has been substantially amended (4). Since further amendments have to be made, it should be recast in the interests of clarity.

(2)

The scope of Directive 92/75/EEC is restricted to household appliances. The Commission Communication of 16 July 2008 on the Sustainable Consumption and Production and Sustainable Industrial Policy Action Plan has shown that the extension of the scope of Directive 92/75/EEC to energy-related products which have a significant direct or indirect impact on energy consumption during use could reinforce potential synergies between existing legislative measures, and in particular Directive 2009/125/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 October 2009 establishing a framework for the setting of ecodesign requirements for energy related products (5). This Directive should not prejudice the application of Directive 2009/125/EC. Together with that Directive and other Union instruments, this Directive forms part of a broader legal framework and, in the context of a holistic approach, brings about additional energy savings and environmental gains.

(3)

The Presidency conclusions of the European Council of 8 and 9 March 2007 emphasised the need to increase energy efficiency in the Union so as to achieve the objective of saving 20 % of the Union’s energy consumption by 2020, set targets for the EU-wide development of renewable energies and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and called for a thorough and rapid implementation of the key areas identified in the Commission Communication of 19 October 2006 entitled ‘Action Plan for Energy Efficiency: Realising the Potential’. The action plan highlighted the enormous energy savings opportunities in the products sector.

(4)

Improving the efficiency of energy-related products through informed consumer choice benefits the EU economy overall.

(5)

The provision of accurate, relevant and comparable information on the specific energy consumption of energy-related products should influence the end-user’s choice in favour of those products which consume or indirectly result in consuming less energy and other essential resources during use, thus prompting manufacturers to take steps to reduce the consumption of energy and other essential resources of the products which they manufacture. It should also, indirectly, encourage the efficient use of these products in order to contribute to the EU’s 20 % energy efficiency target. In the absence of this information, the operation of market forces alone will fail to promote the rational use of energy and other essential resources for these products.

(6)

It should be recalled that Union and national legislation exists which gives certain rights to consumers with respect to purchased products, including compensation or exchange of the product.

(7)

The Commission should provide a priority list of energy-related products that could be covered by a delegated act under this Directive. Such a list could be included in the Working Plan referred to in Directive 2009/125/EC.

(8)

Information plays a key role in the operation of market forces and it is therefore necessary to introduce a uniform label for all products of the same type, to provide potential purchasers with supplementary standardised information on those products’ costs in terms of energy and the consumption of other essential resources and to take measures to ensure that potential end-users who do not see the product displayed, and thus have no opportunity to see the label, are also supplied with this information. In order to be efficient and successful, the label should be easily recognisable to end-users, simple and concise. To this end the existing layout of the label should be retained as the basis to inform end-users about the energy efficiency of products. Energy consumption of and other information concerning the products should be measured in accordance with harmonised standards and methods.

(9)

As pointed out in the Commission’s Impact Assessment accompanying its proposal for this Directive, the energy labelling scheme has been followed as a model in different countries around the world.

(10)

Member States should regularly monitor compliance with this Directive, and include the relevant information in the report that they are obliged to submit every four years to the Commission under this Directive, with special regard to the responsibilities of suppliers and dealers.

(11)

Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 July 2008 setting out the requirements for accreditation and market surveillance relating to the marketing of products (6) contains general provisions on market surveillance relating to the marketing of products. In order to achieve its aims, this Directive provides for more detailed provisions in this respect. Those provisions are consistent with Regulation (EC) No 765/2008.

(12)

A completely voluntary scheme would lead to only some products being labelled, or supplied with standard product information, with the risk that this might result in confusion or even misinformation for some end-users. The present scheme should therefore ensure that for all the products concerned, the consumption of energy and other essential resources is indicated by labelling and standard product fiches.

(13)

Energy-related products have a direct or indirect impact on the consumption of a wide variety of forms of energy during use, electricity and gas being the most important. This Directive should therefore cover energy-related products having a direct or indirect impact on the consumption of any form of energy during use.

(14)

Energy-related products which have a significant direct or indirect impact on consumption of energy or, where relevant, of essential resources during use and which afford adequate scope for increased efficiency should be covered by a delegated act, when provision of information through labelling may stimulate end-users to purchase more efficient products.

(15)

In order to meet the Union climate change and energy security objectives, and given that the total energy consumed by products is expected to continue to rise in the longer term, the delegated acts under this Directive could, where relevant, also highlight on the label the high total energy consumption of the product.

(16)

A number of Member States have public procurement policies in place which require contracting authorities to procure energy efficient products. A number of Member States also have put in place incentives for energy efficient products. The criteria for products to be eligible for public procurement or incentives can substantially differ from one Member State to another. To refer to performance classes as levels for particular products, as set out in delegated acts under this Directive, may reduce fragmentation of public procurement and incentives and facilitate the uptake of efficient products.

(17)

Incentives which Member States may provide for the promotion of efficient products might constitute State aid. This Directive does not prejudice the outcome of any future State aid procedure that may be undertaken in accordance with Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) in respect of such incentives and should not cover taxation and fiscal matters. Member States are free to decide on the nature of such incentives.

(18)

The promotion of energy efficient products through labelling, public procurement and incentives should not be to the detriment of the overall environmental performance and the functioning of such products.

(19)

The Commission should be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 290 TFEU in respect of labelling and standard product information of the consumption of energy and other essential resources by energy-related products during use. It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level.

(20)

The Commission should regularly submit to the European Parliament and the Council a synthesis, covering the EU and each Member State separately, of the reports on enforcement activities and the level of compliance submitted by Member States under this Directive.

(21)

The Commission should be responsible for adapting the label classifications with the aim of ensuring predictability for the industry and comprehension for consumers.

(22)

To a varying extent according to the product concerned, technological development and the potential for additional significant energy savings could make further product differentiation necessary and justify a review of the classification. Such review should include in particular the possibility of rescaling. This review should be carried out as expeditiously as possible in the case of products which, due to their very innovative characteristics, can make a significant contribution to energy efficiency.

(23)

When the Commission reviews progress and reports on the implementation of the Sustainable Consumption and Production and Sustainable Industrial Policy Action Plan in 2012, it will in particular analyse whether further action to improve the energy and environmental performance of products is needed, including, inter alia the possibility to provide consumers with information on the carbon footprint of products or the products’ environmental impact during their life cycle.

(24)

The obligation to transpose this Directive into national law should be confined to those provisions which represent a substantive change as compared with Directive 92/75/EEC. The obligation to transpose the provisions which are unchanged arises under the Directive 92/75/EEC.

(25)

When Member States implement the provisions of this Directive, they should endeavour to refrain from adopting measures that could impose unnecessarily bureaucratic and unwieldy obligations on the market participants concerned, in particular small and medium-sized enterprises.

(26)

This Directive should be without prejudice to the obligations of the Member States relating to the time-limits for transposition into national law and application of Directive 92/75/EEC.

(27)

In accordance with point 34 of the Interinstitutional Agreement on better law-making (7), Member States are encouraged to draw up, for themselves and in the interest of the Union, their own tables illustrating, as far as possible, the correlation between this Directive and the transposition measures, and to make them public,

(a)

‘energy-related product’ or ‘product’ means any good having an impact on energy consumption during use, which is placed on the market and/or put into service in the Union, including parts intended to be incorporated into energy-related products covered by this Directive which are placed on the market and/or put into service as individual parts for end-users and of which the environmental performance can be assessed independently;

(b)

‘fiche’ means a standard table of information relating to a product;

(c)

‘other essential resources’ means water, chemicals or any other substance consumed by a product in normal use;

(d)

‘supplementary information’ means other information concerning the performance and features of a product which relate to, or are helpful in evaluating, its use of energy or other essential resources based on measurable data;

(e)

‘direct impact’ means the impact of products that actually consume energy during use;

(f)

‘indirect impact’ means the impact of products that do not consume energy, but contribute to energy conservation during use;

(g)

‘dealer’ means a retailer or other person who sells, hires, offers for hire-purchase or displays products to end-users;

(h)

‘supplier’ means the manufacturer or its authorised representative in the Union or the importer who places or puts into service the product on the Union market. In their absence, any natural or legal person who places on the market or puts into service products covered by this Directive shall be considered a supplier;

(i)

‘placing on the market’ means making a product available for the first time on the Union market with a view to its distribution or use within the Union, whether for reward or free of charge and irrespective of the selling technique;

(j)

‘putting into service’ means the first use of a product for its intended purpose in the Union;

(k)

‘unauthorised use of the label’ means the use of the label, other than by Member State authorities or EU institutions, in a manner not provided for in this Directive or a delegated act.

(a)

information relating to the consumption of electric energy, other forms of energy and where relevant other essential resources during use, and supplementary information is, in accordance with delegated acts under this Directive, brought to the attention of end-users by means of a fiche and a label related to products offered for sale, hire, hire-purchase or displayed to end-users directly or indirectly by any means of distance selling, including the Internet;

(b)

the information referred to in point (a) is provided in respect of built-in or installed products only where required by the applicable delegated act;

(c)

any advertisement for a specific model of energy-related products covered by a delegated act under this Directive includes, where energy-related or price information is disclosed, a reference to the energy efficiency class of the product;

(d)

any technical promotional material concerning energy-related products which describes the specific technical parameters of a product, namely, technical manuals and manufacturers’ brochures, whether printed or online, is provided to end-users with the necessary information regarding energy consumption or shall include a reference to the energy efficiency class of the product.

(a)

suppliers placing on the market or putting into service products covered by a delegated act supply a label and a fiche in accordance with this Directive and the delegated act;

(b)

suppliers produce technical documentation which is sufficient to enable the accuracy of the information contained in the label and the fiche to be assessed. That technical documentation shall include:

To this end suppliers may use documentation already established in accordance with requirements laid down in relevant Union legislation;

(c)

suppliers make the technical documentation available for inspection purposes for a period ending five years after the last product concerned was manufactured.

Suppliers make available an electronic version of the technical documentation on request to the market surveillance authorities of the Member States and to the Commission within 10 working days on receipt of a request by the competent authority of a Member State or the Commission;

(d)

in respect of labelling and product information, suppliers provide the necessary labels free of charge to dealers.

Without prejudice to the suppliers’ choice of system for delivery of labels, suppliers promptly deliver labels on request from dealers;

(e)

in addition to the labels, suppliers provide a product fiche;

(f)

suppliers include a product fiche in all product brochures. Where product brochures are not provided by the supplier, the supplier provides fiches with other literature provided with the product;

(g)

suppliers are responsible for the accuracy of the labels and fiches that they supply;

(h)

suppliers are considered to have given consent to the publication of the information provided on the label or in the fiche.

(a)

dealers display labels properly, in a visible and legible manner, and make the fiche available in the product brochure or other literature that accompanies products when sold to end-users;

(b)

whenever a product covered by a delegated act is displayed, dealers attach an appropriate label, in the clearly visible position specified in the applicable delegated act, and in the relevant language version.

(a)

the contribution of Article 4(c) to the aim of this Directive;

(b)

the effectiveness of Article 9(1);

(c)

in the light of technical evolution and the understanding by consumers of the label layout, the need for amending Article 10(4)(d).