The Community regulatory framework on labelling of energy-related products is provide by the 1992 Energy Labelling Directive which determines the conditions and criteria to the Commission to adopt requirements for the labelling of particular household appliances through the comitology procedure.
Last November, the Commission adopted, as part of its Second Strategic Energy Review, a proposal for a Directive on the indication by labelling and standard product information of the consumption of energy and other resources by energy-related products which would recast the present Energy Labelling Directive. In record time, the European Parliament has recently adopted in first reading, with amendments, the Commission proposal.
The Energy Labelling Directive presently applies to household appliances but the Commission has proposed to extend its scope to energy-using products used in the industrial and commercial sectors and other energy-related products which have an impact on energy consumption during use. The European Parliament endorsed the Commission proposal but it has specified that the directive would also apply to construction products, which "have a significant direct or indirect impact" on energy savings such as window glazing, frames, outer doors and taps.
The energy consumption and other information concerning the product would be measured in accordance with harmonized standards and methods. The precise information that must be displayed on the label as well as the precise modalities of the label would be defined on a product-by-product basis in implementing measures, through the comitology procedure.
The European Parliament introduced a new provision stipulating that advertisements promoting technical specifications of an energy related product will have to indicate the product's energy consumption or energy savings or include a reference to the energy class. The European Parliament also introduced the requirement that any technical promotional literature on energy related products, such as technical manuals and manufacturers’ brochures shall provide information on energy consumption or include a reference to the energy label of the product.
According to the Commission the criteria for products to be eligible for public procurement or incentives differs among the EU Member State. Hence, the draft amending Directive would establish a harmonised base for public procurement and incentives provided by the EU and the Member States. The implementing measures would establish label classes below which Member States would not be able to provide incentives to purchase, and public authorities would not be able to procure. The UK Government does not support the use of comitology to adopt such measures. Moreover, it believes that such measures would go against its policy of opposing the introduction of tax measures in non-tax legislation agreed by qualified majority voting. Therefore, it will seek to remove the Member States obligation not to provide incentives for products which are below energy efficiency levels. Nevertheless, the European Parliament adopted an amendment on tax credits for highly energy efficient products. According to the European Parliament, Member States should only provide incentives for products meeting the minimum energy efficiency criteria. The European Parliament recommend to Member States to offer tax credits for consumers using highly energy efficient products as well as for industries that promote and produce such products. The MEPs also called for reduced value added tax on materials and components providing efficiency gains.
MEPs also called on the Commission to regularly review the energy labelling classification. The implementing measures will cover the design and content of labels as well as specify the fixed duration of the label classification(s). The European Parliament introduced an amendment under which the energy label classification of product would only be valid for 3 to 5 years. The MEPs introduced new provisions under which suppliers would be obliged to supply to the dealers the latest version of the label. The dealers, respectively, will be obliged to replace the old label with the energy label with the reviewed classifications for the relevant product on the same day as the old label expires. Such system will result in a complex re-labelling requirement for manufactures and retailers.
The draft Directive also defines the responsibilities of Member States and introduces new provisions for compliance checking. Member States would be required to monitor compliance with this Directive particularly the responsibilities of suppliers and dealers to properly display labels. Under the draft proposal, Member States must protect the label through market surveillance and enforce it through administrative law such as fines or banning of the product.
The scope of the ELD would be extended therefore there would be an increase on implementing measures and consequently and administrative burden. There would be an increase in operating cost to manufacturers and retailers due to energy labelling requirements which would be passed on to consumer.
The proposal is going through the codecision procedure with QMV require at the Council. The European Parliament proposed amendments entail more bureaucracy and costs than the Commission original proposal. It remains to be seen what will come out of the negotiations.
