Energy-savings from consumer electrical appliances such as hairdryers and personal computers are on their way after Parliament gave its backing to the eco-design framework directive on 13 April.
The deal came after a last-minute agreement was struck with the Council and Commission and approved by EU ambassadors late last week. MEPs, who were initially calling for tougher measures, backed down at the prospect of an uncertain conciliation procedure with the 25 member states in the Council.
An important aspect of the compromise is that self-imposed measures by industry are to be given priority when they are deemed to be more efficient. This will be assessed by the Commission at an early stage after it has consulted a special stakeholders' forum bringing together representatives of industry, member states and NGOs.
The actual measures are then decided by the Commission under the supervision of designated EU member state experts as part of the so-called comitology procedure.
But the Commission is well known to lacking the staff resources needed to do the job. Green MEP Claude Turmes has pointed out that the Commission currently only has two people to draft implementing decisions on eco-design.
Measures for specific priority products will be decided in the next two years starting with heating, electric motors, lighting and domestic appliances. They will define energy-performance for each product and the related labelling to enable consumers to make informed choices. They will also carry information to encourage consumer responsibility in contributing to energy savings.
On one of the most controversial points in the negotiation, it was finally agreed to uphold the internal market (art. 95 of the EC Treaty) as the sole legal basis of the directive. In practice, this means member states will not be allowed to impose stricter environmental rules to make sure products are harmonised and more easily traded across all EU countries.
