On 30 March 2022, the Commission presented a Communication to make sustainable products the norm in the EU. The initiative lays out the Commission’s vision of how it intends to make products more sustainable by transforming how they are produced and reducing related energy consumption and emissions, but also to improve the role of consumers in this transition.
The Commission’s Communication acts as an umbrella for legislative and non-legislative actions to come, some of which the Commission already presented at the offset, such as the new Eco-design Regulation, the Textile Strategy or the new Directive as regards empowering consumers in the Green Transition, all of which we address in separate articles of this Monthly Bulletin. The initiative also lists requirements Brussels could set for the design of certain kinds of products, such as electronics, textiles, chemicals and furniture and proposes standards for products’ durability, reusability and upgradability, as well as ease of maintenance and repair, energy use and efficiency. It also paves the way for a potential EU-wide ban of the destruction of unsold goods and the rollout of so-called digital product passports to facilitate consumers’ access to information. We will keep you informed as the various initiatives are published.
