On 30 March 2022, the European Commission (EC) released a package of European Green Deal proposals to make sustainable products the norm in the EU, to boost circular business models, and to empower consumers for the green transition. As previously announced in the Circular Economy Action Plan, the Commission is now proposing new rules to make almost all physical goods on the EU market more friendly to the environment, circular, and energy efficient throughout their whole lifecycle from the design phase through to daily use, repurposing and end-of-life.

The first proposal in the package is that for a Regulation on Ecodesign for Sustainable Products, which addresses product design determining up to 80% of a product's lifecycle environmental impact. It sets new requirements to make products more durable, reliable, reusable, upgradable, reparable, easier to maintain, refurbish and recycle, and energy and resource efficient.

This is accompanied by an Ecodesign and Energy Labelling Working Plan 2022-2024, whose purpose is to cover new energy-related products, update and increase the ambition for products that are already regulated, as a transitionary measure until the new regulation enters into force.

Another proposal is the revision of the Construction Products Regulation, which aims to boost the internal market for construction products and ensure that the regulatory framework in place is fit for making the built environment deliver on sustainability and climate objectives.

Furthermore, the Commission is proposing an EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles, which seeks to make textiles more durable, repairable, reusable and recyclable, to tackle fast fashion, textile waste and the destruction of unsold textiles, and to ensure their production takes place in full respect of social rights.

Finally, the package includes a proposal on new rules to empower consumers in the green transition so that consumers are better informed about the environmental sustainability of products and better protected against greenwashing. This is a reference to the proposal for a Directive on empowering consumers for the green transition.

All information is available HERE.