The regulations, approved on 26 September by a special committee of national experts (regulatory committee), will apply to office, industrial and street lighting products as well as 'set-top' boxes that convert digital TV signals into analogue signals.
If approved by the Parliament later in the year, the Commission predicts that the two measures will lead to significant energy savings. The electricity consumption of lighting equipment should be reduced by 15%, leading to savings equivalent to the annual electricity use of Romania. TV boxes, meanwhile, would use nearly three times less power by 2014, the Commission said in a statement.
"These measures are concrete contributions to reaching the EU's energy efficiency targets. Once they are in place, they will significantly reduce energy consumption, CO2 emissions and foreign dependency in a cost-effective manner," said Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs.
The regulations are part of the implementing measures set out in the 2005 Framework Directive on Eco-design requirements for Energy-using Products (EuP), which stipulates that energy-efficiency improvements should be adopted on a product-by-product basis by a special committee of national technical experts.
After being given the go-ahead by the Parliament, the Commission expects the regulations to be formally approved by member states in January 2009. Meanwhile, Brussels is expected to propose further EuP implementing measures on product groups such as lamps used in the domestic sector in the next few months.
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