The European Commission publishes the 2025–2030 ESPR Working Plan

The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2024/1781), also known as the ESPR, is the legal framework that establishes EU-wide requirements for the sustainable design of products.

The European Commission has published the new Work Plan for Sustainable Product Ecodesign and Energy Labelling 2025–2030, outlining key intervention areas and strategic objectives aligned with the updated regulation.

The goal is to significantly expand the scope of ecodesign requirements, making products placed on the EU market increasingly sustainable, durable, repairable, and circular.

The plan is based on the outcomes of the current ecodesign and energy labelling framework, which in 2023 led to a 12% reduction in the EU's final energy consumption and reduced CO₂ emissions by millions of tonnes. The ESPR broadens this scope by incorporating not only product performance aspects (durability, recyclability, recycled content) but also information-related requirements.

Between 2025 and 2030, ecodesign requirements will be introduced for:

• Final products: textiles (clothing), furniture (including mattresses), tyres;
• Intermediate products: iron and steel, aluminium;

as well as a range of horizontal requirements, such as repairability (including a scoring system) and recycled content/recyclability for electrical and electronic equipment.

Priority was assigned to these products and sectors based on factors such as their potential for environmental improvement, market volume, and stakeholder support. For instance, the textile sector, which represents a €78 billion market, provides significant opportunities to mitigate impacts related to water usage, waste generation, and emissions. Aluminium was chosen due to its high recyclability potential and its strategic importance in enhancing EU supply resilience.

These actions will be implemented through delegated acts specific to each product or category, following a gradual timeline from 2026 to 2030. The plan also includes a mid-term review in 2028 and the launch of preparatory studies on complex product groups such as footwear, paints, detergents, lubricants, and chemical products.

Other product groups, including ICT devices and household appliances, will be addressed by continuing work already initiated under the previous plans (2022–2024), and by means of updated labelling requirements.

The plan underlines the need for harmonised requirements across the EU to avoid disproportionate burdens, especially for SMEs, aiming to stimulate innovation and investment while ensuring a stable and predictable regulatory environment for businesses.

Key implementation tools of the ESPR and its work plan include:

• the gradual introduction of digital product passports, which will ensure traceability, transparency, and access to information across the value chain;
• updated energy labelling, which will continue to guide consumer choices;
• green public procurement, through the adoption of minimum environmental criteria to stimulate lead markets and support European industry.

This work plan is part of broader strategic initiatives under the Clean Industrial Deal and the EU Competitiveness Compass, aiming to align decarbonisation with competitiveness and position the EU as a global leader in the circular economy by 2030.