In support of the European Union’s (EU’s) stated goal of achieving a 20% savings in energy consumption by 2020, the EU Commission has published a “recast” version of its directive on the labeling of energy-consuming products.
The new directive, 2010/30/EU, covers “labeling and standards product information on the consumption of energy and other resources by energy-related products,” and is intended to establish a framework for the harmonization of national regulations on information provided to end users.
Published in June in the Official Journal of the European Union, the new directive provides regulators, manufacturers and other interested parties with a single document that consolidates the numerous amendments that have been made to the original energy labeling directive, 92/75/EEC, issued in 1992. More important, the scope of the new directive has been expanded beyond household appliances (the focus of 92/75/EEC) to cover all “energy-related products which have a significant direct or indirect impact on the consumption of energy.” Indeed, the directive’s only named exclusion from its provisions is for “second-hand products.”
EU Member States have until June 20, 2011 to integrate the provisions of the new directive into their respective national laws and regulations. The former directive, 92/75/EEC will then be repealed, effective July 21, 2011.
View the complete text of the EU’s new energy labeling directive, 2010/30/EU.
