The Commission of the European Union (EU) has issued a regulation implementing new energy efficiency requirements for directional lamps, light emitting diodes (LEDs) and related equipment.
The regulation, which was published in December 2012 in the Official Journal of the European Union, is considered an implementation measure under the EU’s Eco-Design Directive, 2009/125/EC. That directive gives the Commission the authority to establish minimum efficiency standards for those “energy-related products representing significant volume of sales and trade, having significant environmental impact and presenting significant potential for improvement in terms of their environmental impact without entailing excessive costs.”
The new energy efficiency requirements for directional lamps and LEDs, which come into effect beginning in September 2013, are extensively detailed in Section 1 of Annex III of the regulation. Annex III also includes functionality requirements for various light categories as well as applicable product information requirements. Annex IV of the regulation details the procedure to be used by authorities in EU member states for verifying compliance with the regulation’s requirements.
