The ESPR came into force in mid-July 2024 and is the cornerstone for more environmentally sustainable and circular products. It thus replaces the Ecodesign Directive 2009/125/EC, expands its scope and will in future regulate almost all physical products that are placed on the market or put into operation in the EU. The ESPR is intended to ensure that only durable, repairable and energy-efficient products are traded on the internal market in the future. Foodstuffs, animal feed, medicinal products, veterinary medicinal products, live plants/animals/micro-organisms, products of human origin, products of plants and animals directly related to their future reproduction and certain vehicles are excluded.
The ESPR has set itself ambitious goals and is designed as a framework regulation, i.e. it regulates general requirements that are later concretised by the European Commission (e.g. through delegated acts, guidelines). This information is to be made available through the digital product passport. It will help consumers and companies to make more sustainable decisions on their products. The energy consumption labelling is to be supplemented by a reparability index and an ecodesign label. In future, the DPP will also be used to check compliance with sustainability criteria.