The Dutchman Frans Timmermans is responsible for the “Green Deal” in the European Commission. Today, Wednesday, he held his mobile phone up to the cameras during the press conference and explained what the device must be able to do in the future if he and the Brussels authorities have their way. It must be fixable. In other words: if the battery no longer charges properly, then it must simply be possible to replace only this and not the entire smartphone.
“We want sustainable products and we want that to become the norm in the European market,” said Timmermans. The new rules should apply to eight out of ten products in the European Union. The only exceptions are food, medicines and animal feed.
Timmermans and the three commissioners responsible for the internal market, environment and law presented a comprehensive legislative package on the circular economy and energy efficiency on Wednesday. The detailed design still has to be negotiated with the Parliament and the Council of the Member States.
The package includes obligations for manufacturers and rights for consumers. In the future, there will be a digital “product passport” for almost every product – from household appliances to office furniture. With one click, customers should be able to find out on the Internet which components the respective product consists of and where they come from. In addition, the passport must provide information about service life, repair and recycling. In addition, it should be forbidden to describe products as “green” or “sustainable” if this cannot be proven.
For the textile sector, the Commission presented its own sustainability strategy aimed at counteracting the undesirable social and ecological side effects of cheap clothing. On average, a truckload of clothing is dumped on landfill or incinerated every minute, criticizes Timmermans. This throwaway consumption must end. As early as 2023/24, the textile sector will have to meet stricter requirements – also with regard to microplastics and chemical additives.
In order to achieve more sustainability and energy efficiency, the Commission wants to turn several screws. One of them is the already existing eco-design directive. It gives the EU Commission the opportunity to set minimum standards for the environmentally relevant properties of a product. So far, this has mainly affected energy-consuming devices. In the case of refrigerators and washing machines, for example, the energy efficiency must be specified on a scale from A to G. Additional criteria – service life, repairability and reusability – as well as new product groups are to be added.
Another screw that the Commission wants to turn in the direction of sustainability and energy efficiency is the Construction Products Regulation. Here, for example, she wants to give preference to the use of recyclable building materials. The proposals will change in the course of negotiations with Parliament and the Council. Critics warn of over-regulation and market intervention. Proponents see progress in climate protection and opportunities for innovative companies. Overall, the EU Parliament is in favor of tightening the requirements for sustainability and energy efficiency.
Source: Nachrichten
