Brussels, 11 December – The Commission has finalised the latest Ecodesign working plan after a delay of eight months. The draft plan was produced at the end of 2011, with adoption estimated by April 2012. Discussions were derailed by slow work on previous ecodesign regulations and disagreements over the inclusion of water related products, such as showerheads and taps, which have now been included in the plan’s priority list.
The draft plan put windows, steam boilers, power cables, computer servers and smart meters on this priority list. To this, wine storage and water-related products have been added, with regulation of water-related products expected to save up to 885 petrajoules of energy per year.
The next step for these products will be the launch of preparatory studies to explore technical, economic and environmental aspects of ecodesign measures. Stakeholder consultation is scheduled for March 2013.
The commission will also be looking to complete work started under previous plans: (22 ecodesign regulations, nine energy labelling schemes and four voluntary agreements), and the launch of preparatory studies on products in the new working plan depends on progress made in the adoption of ecodesign standards already under consideration.
Click here to download the Ecodesign working plan (2012-2014).