Do you also use the energy labels as a guide when buying a washing machine or a freezer? Not only classic household appliances, but also our IT end devices such as smartphones and tables are to fall under the Ecodesign Directive in the future – and not only with information on energy consumption. Eric Bonse has investigated the issue and reports a delay: the Commission has overreached itself and the regulation is behind schedule.
European legislation always consists of three parties: Commission, Parliament and Council. Following the European Council a week and a half ago, the important digital dossiers (DSA, DMA, DGA, AIA, ePrivacy) have now made progress, in some cases significant progress, in the Council working groups. Today, I would like to summarise what was discussed, who was able to prevail and what the further timetables now look like.
There is news on the subject of microelectronics: the second project of EU member states is making progress, and in November a decision is to be made on which projects from Germany will be included in the IPCEI Microelectronics II.
Directly from the G20 summit in Rome, many delegations are flying on to Glasgow, where the COP26 climate conference began on Sunday, from which we will report to you in depth in the coming days. The final declaration of the 20 heads of state and government leaves much to be desired, but there is still hope for success in Glasgow.
The provisional agreement between Joe Biden’s US government and the EU on the steel dispute proves that sustainability can also serve as a criterion in trade dis putes: Emission levels are to become a criterion for steel and aluminium tariffs in future, they say. Loosely translated: China will be left out for the time being.
Well into this week of autumn holidays in Brussels, the the coalition between the SPD, the Greens and the Liberals in Berlin continues to be negotiated – so far completely silently to the outside world and without any major leak. But will it stay that way until November 10?
Energy-saving design of household appliances such as refrigerators, washing machines, and monitors is seen as the key to achieving the EU’s climate targets. But the EU Commission is making no progress in revising its proposals for the various product groups. An amendment for smartphones and tablets, originally expected in mid-December, has now been postponed until next year. The background:
The 2009 Ecodesign Directive is a success story – at least on paper: 31 product groups have already been reviewed and trimmed for energy efficiency on its basis. The eco-designers’ palette ranges from refrigerators and washing machines to televisions and computers; since March 1, 2021, the new EU energy labels will be emblazoned on these products.
Smartphones and tablets were supposed to be next; the corresponding ecodesign rules were expected shortly before Christmas. However, the EU Commission has postponed its proposals. They are now not to be presented until the first quarter of 2022, as part of the “Sustainable Products Initiative”. In addition, the Brussels authority has announced a working plan on ecodesign, which is to define the priorities for the next few years.
In the European Parliament, the delay is met with incomprehension. The MEPs had placed great hope in the amendment and are now disappointed. “It is problematic that the implementation and update of the existing ecodesign rules is progressing only very slowly”, criticises Anna Cavazzini (Greens/EFA), who chairs the Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection. Since Ursula von der Leyen took office in 2019 as Commission President, the Ecodesign rules for not a single product had been revised, he said. “This means unnecessary millions of tonnes of CO2 emissions and also higher energy costs for consumers. Here, the European Commission must finally provide sufficient resources.”
There is also criticism from Delara Burkhardt (SPD/S&D). She regrets the postponement and calls for a product design that makes reparability the standard. “It can’t be that you have to buy a new washing machine just because a screw is loose. The Ecodesign Directive is an essential part of the Green Deal and must not be put on the back burner.”
The manufacturers and their associations, on the other hand, have no problems with the postponement. They have long warned against overregulation and excessive demands. Duplicate or even contradictory regulations must be avoided, demands the umbrella association Digital Europe. The Commission should concentrate on product-specific rules and not try to expand the scope and depth of ecodesign regulations more and more.
However, that is exactly what is planned in Brussels. The EU Commission no longer wants to regulate only “energy guzzlers”, but also other, non-energy-relevant products. In future, the focus will no longer be on the “life cycle” of a product, but on raw materials, production, disposal and recycling – in other words, all those aspects that are relevant to a sustainable circular economy.
However, this high standard has proven to be time-consuming, costly and personnel-intensive – one reason for the delay in “updating” the Ecodesign rules. The EU Commission has overstretched itself and is in need of detention. Another reason for the delay are differences of opinion on details. They have come to light in the EU plans for smartphones and tablets.
According to the draft regulations from Brussels, which have now been delayed, manufacturers are to equip their mobile phones with longer-lasting batteries from 2023 and supply spare parts and security updates for each model for at least five years. In addition, the EU Commission wants to make the energy label known from refrigerators also mandatory for smartphones and tablets.
The German government welcomed the draft. “Since production accounts for by far the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions during the lifetime of electronic devices and only a part of the raw materials can be recovered during recycling as well, the German government supports the draft regulation’s goal of increasing the reliability and reparability of devices,” said a statement from the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy in Berlin.
When it comes to updates , Berlin wants to go even further than Brussels: it should be guaranteed for seven years that up-to-date software is available for remuneration. “In addition, security updates should also be available separately if, for example, an older device can no longer process a new operating system version that contains the corresponding security updates,” says the BMWi.
In contrast, the manufacturers are putting on the brakes. For security updates, one should “rather” aim for three years, for function updates even only two years, says Digital Europe. A 2018 statement even warned against time limits for software updates in general. The association completely rejects the planned energy label, since the industry is striving for the highest possible energy efficiency anyway.
These examples show how far apart the positions still are. On some important issues – such as the energy label – they even seem irreconcilable. The eagerly awaited proposal from Brussels could therefore be delayed even further – much to the chagrin of the European Parliament, which is pushing the pace more than ever.
The first steps have been taken with the AI regulation – and even with the e-privacy regulation, which has been overdue for five years , things are slowly moving again. The movement is due not least to the European Council: at their meeting on 21 and 22 October, the 27 heads of state and government explicitly called for progress on the digital dossiers.
According to negotiating circles, the enforcement of the new regulations was the most recent point of contention regarding the Digital Services Act: France had recently proposed changes to the regulation of the responsibilities of the supervisory authorities and demanded a strengthening of the market location principle.
According to the Commission proposal (Articles 38 to 41), each Member State should designate a lead supervisory authority (Digital Services Coordinator, DSC) . This would be responsible for companies that fall under the DSA and either have their registered office, their EU headquarters or their DSA-designated legal representative in that country – i.e. a modified form of the country-of-origin principle.
The DSC is to drive forward the coordination of authorities in the Member State as well as with the DSCs of other Member States and the EU Commission. In addition, in certain cases the EU Commission may refer a case to it.
After France’s position on strengthening the market place principle did not find a majority in the Council, representatives of Member States have now spoken out in favour of further strengthening the competences of the Commission.
On the other hand, there should be no changes in the Council’s position on the definition of “very large online platforms” (VLOPs), for which special obligations should apply: for these, a minimum of 45 million daily users within the EU has been the only requirement so far – here, parliamentary representatives are calling for different criteria, a possible point of negotiation in the trilogue.
The DSA is now set to cross the finish line as quickly as possible in the Council Working Group on Competition and Growth: The third compromise draft is to be presented on November 8th, finalized on November 11th, discussed in COREPER I on November 17th, and the General Approach then adopted at the Competition Council on November 25th. The trilogue could then begin under the French Council Presidency in January.
After Germany, France and, the Netherlands submitted a joint proposal in May for a newly to be introduced Article 16a, which would have allowed the Commission for Gatekeepers extensive rights of intervention in the design of online providers on the basis of an in-depth market investigation, the Council position is now to be extended at this point.
However, the situation is different with the second proposal included: The three Member States had called for a stronger role of the national supervisory authorities, especially the competition and antitrust authorities. According to negotiating circles, the three heavyweights were not able to push through this proposal; the DMA is to continue to be enforced exclusively by the European Commission, albeit in close cooperation with the national authorities.
The Council position on the DMA is also to be finalised in November by Council working groups and the COREPER I.
The much less controversial DGA could be finally adopted very soon: The first trialogue of Parliament, Council and, Commission on the DGA took place on 26 October and is described by participants as very constructive.
The Council’s Telecoms Working Group has continued its work on the AI Regulation. According to participants, initial opinions on about a third of the regulation, including the controversial Article 29 on high-risk applications, are expected in the coming weeks.
These initial opinions are to be processed into a first partial compromise before the end of the year.
Slight progress has been made in the consultations on the e-privacy regulation, which has been overdue for five years and should actually enter into force at the same time as the General Data Protection Regulation. The next trilogue is due to take place on November 18th.
The Council working group was not given a mandate to negotiate on the issue of the retention of connection and location data (VDS): according to government circles in Germany, the Federal Ministry of the Interior Building and Community, under its outgoing acting Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, had attempted to raise the issue again.
This was rejected by the SPD. The Social Democrats are currently negotiating with the Greens and the FDP about the formation of the next government coalition – parts of the SPD and large parts of the Greens and the FDP reject data retention, in the exploratory result a review of all laws with surveillance character was sought.
The e-privacy regulation will probably occupy at least the coming French Council Presidency, which begins at the turn of the year.
Paris is not only the city of love and savoir-vivre, but also a think tank for a better future. A few weeks ago, the French capital introduced a 30-kilometre-per-hour speed limit to encourage more sustainable traffic, and more innovations of this kind are expected to follow. Just a few blocks from the Arc de Triomphe is the Institut Montaigne, an influential private-sector economic policy think tank.
Academics, experts from science and business, citizens and representatives from government circles work together on studies and international comparative statistics to analyse social coexistence, competitiveness and the optimisation of government spending. Théophile Lenoir, head of the institute’s digital program, is particularly concerned with the interactions between the labour market, digitalization, and data. His goal is to modernize the management of digital technologies and transform France’s digital public space.
Lenoir is not only a digitization expert, but also a communications scholar and a passionate violinist in his private life. After successfully graduating from the London School of Economics, he studied journalism in South Carolina (USA) and worked in start-ups at the interface between media and technology.
With his work, he wants to find answers to previously unanswered questions: Who needs to access what data for what purpose ? And how can you get worlds that don’t talk to each other to work together? “This is the challenge cities face to get out of the data stone age. The health situation in particular has highlighted the importance of communication between stakeholders and information systems.”
However, the tough assessment of political action is also part of Lenoir’s business: in October, together with his colleague Gilles Babinet, he will take stock of Emmanuel Macron’s digital promises and their fulfilment during his term in office.
Lenoir shows how to present itself as a modern think tank and also reach younger generations. For example, with short YouTube clips in smartphone format. Among other things, he talks about how to deal with platforms (such as delivery and chauffeur services), which have created a new working environment and thus new problems: “The platform economy does not provide social security for employees.”
To change this, the Montaigne Institute has conducted the first statistical survey on bicycle couriers to understand the challenges of these new forms of work and propose solutions. The focus is on developing a responsible economy that respects workers’ interests and is sustainable in the long term. Giorgia Grimaldi
Do you also use the energy labels as a guide when buying a washing machine or a freezer? Not only classic household appliances, but also our IT end devices such as smartphones and tables are to fall under the Ecodesign Directive in the future – and not only with information on energy consumption. Eric Bonse has investigated the issue and reports a delay: the Commission has overreached itself and the regulation is behind schedule.
European legislation always consists of three parties: Commission, Parliament and Council. Following the European Council a week and a half ago, the important digital dossiers (DSA, DMA, DGA, AIA, ePrivacy) have now made progress, in some cases significant progress, in the Council working groups. Today, I would like to summarise what was discussed, who was able to prevail and what the further timetables now look like.
There is news on the subject of microelectronics: the second project of EU member states is making progress, and in November a decision is to be made on which projects from Germany will be included in the IPCEI Microelectronics II.
Directly from the G20 summit in Rome, many delegations are flying on to Glasgow, where the COP26 climate conference began on Sunday, from which we will report to you in depth in the coming days. The final declaration of the 20 heads of state and government leaves much to be desired, but there is still hope for success in Glasgow.
The provisional agreement between Joe Biden’s US government and the EU on the steel dispute proves that sustainability can also serve as a criterion in trade dis putes: Emission levels are to become a criterion for steel and aluminium tariffs in future, they say. Loosely translated: China will be left out for the time being.
Well into this week of autumn holidays in Brussels, the the coalition between the SPD, the Greens and the Liberals in Berlin continues to be negotiated – so far completely silently to the outside world and without any major leak. But will it stay that way until November 10?
Energy-saving design of household appliances such as refrigerators, washing machines, and monitors is seen as the key to achieving the EU’s climate targets. But the EU Commission is making no progress in revising its proposals for the various product groups. An amendment for smartphones and tablets, originally expected in mid-December, has now been postponed until next year. The background:
The 2009 Ecodesign Directive is a success story – at least on paper: 31 product groups have already been reviewed and trimmed for energy efficiency on its basis. The eco-designers’ palette ranges from refrigerators and washing machines to televisions and computers; since March 1, 2021, the new EU energy labels will be emblazoned on these products.
Smartphones and tablets were supposed to be next; the corresponding ecodesign rules were expected shortly before Christmas. However, the EU Commission has postponed its proposals. They are now not to be presented until the first quarter of 2022, as part of the “Sustainable Products Initiative”. In addition, the Brussels authority has announced a working plan on ecodesign, which is to define the priorities for the next few years.
In the European Parliament, the delay is met with incomprehension. The MEPs had placed great hope in the amendment and are now disappointed. “It is problematic that the implementation and update of the existing ecodesign rules is progressing only very slowly”, criticises Anna Cavazzini (Greens/EFA), who chairs the Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection. Since Ursula von der Leyen took office in 2019 as Commission President, the Ecodesign rules for not a single product had been revised, he said. “This means unnecessary millions of tonnes of CO2 emissions and also higher energy costs for consumers. Here, the European Commission must finally provide sufficient resources.”
There is also criticism from Delara Burkhardt (SPD/S&D). She regrets the postponement and calls for a product design that makes reparability the standard. “It can’t be that you have to buy a new washing machine just because a screw is loose. The Ecodesign Directive is an essential part of the Green Deal and must not be put on the back burner.”
The manufacturers and their associations, on the other hand, have no problems with the postponement. They have long warned against overregulation and excessive demands. Duplicate or even contradictory regulations must be avoided, demands the umbrella association Digital Europe. The Commission should concentrate on product-specific rules and not try to expand the scope and depth of ecodesign regulations more and more.
However, that is exactly what is planned in Brussels. The EU Commission no longer wants to regulate only “energy guzzlers”, but also other, non-energy-relevant products. In future, the focus will no longer be on the “life cycle” of a product, but on raw materials, production, disposal and recycling – in other words, all those aspects that are relevant to a sustainable circular economy.
However, this high standard has proven to be time-consuming, costly and personnel-intensive – one reason for the delay in “updating” the Ecodesign rules. The EU Commission has overstretched itself and is in need of detention. Another reason for the delay are differences of opinion on details. They have come to light in the EU plans for smartphones and tablets.
According to the draft regulations from Brussels, which have now been delayed, manufacturers are to equip their mobile phones with longer-lasting batteries from 2023 and supply spare parts and security updates for each model for at least five years. In addition, the EU Commission wants to make the energy label known from refrigerators also mandatory for smartphones and tablets.
The German government welcomed the draft. “Since production accounts for by far the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions during the lifetime of electronic devices and only a part of the raw materials can be recovered during recycling as well, the German government supports the draft regulation’s goal of increasing the reliability and reparability of devices,” said a statement from the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy in Berlin.
When it comes to updates , Berlin wants to go even further than Brussels: it should be guaranteed for seven years that up-to-date software is available for remuneration. “In addition, security updates should also be available separately if, for example, an older device can no longer process a new operating system version that contains the corresponding security updates,” says the BMWi.
In contrast, the manufacturers are putting on the brakes. For security updates, one should “rather” aim for three years, for function updates even only two years, says Digital Europe. A 2018 statement even warned against time limits for software updates in general. The association completely rejects the planned energy label, since the industry is striving for the highest possible energy efficiency anyway.
These examples show how far apart the positions still are. On some important issues – such as the energy label – they even seem irreconcilable. The eagerly awaited proposal from Brussels could therefore be delayed even further – much to the chagrin of the European Parliament, which is pushing the pace more than ever.
The first steps have been taken with the AI regulation – and even with the e-privacy regulation, which has been overdue for five years , things are slowly moving again. The movement is due not least to the European Council: at their meeting on 21 and 22 October, the 27 heads of state and government explicitly called for progress on the digital dossiers.
According to negotiating circles, the enforcement of the new regulations was the most recent point of contention regarding the Digital Services Act: France had recently proposed changes to the regulation of the responsibilities of the supervisory authorities and demanded a strengthening of the market location principle.
According to the Commission proposal (Articles 38 to 41), each Member State should designate a lead supervisory authority (Digital Services Coordinator, DSC) . This would be responsible for companies that fall under the DSA and either have their registered office, their EU headquarters or their DSA-designated legal representative in that country – i.e. a modified form of the country-of-origin principle.
The DSC is to drive forward the coordination of authorities in the Member State as well as with the DSCs of other Member States and the EU Commission. In addition, in certain cases the EU Commission may refer a case to it.
After France’s position on strengthening the market place principle did not find a majority in the Council, representatives of Member States have now spoken out in favour of further strengthening the competences of the Commission.
On the other hand, there should be no changes in the Council’s position on the definition of “very large online platforms” (VLOPs), for which special obligations should apply: for these, a minimum of 45 million daily users within the EU has been the only requirement so far – here, parliamentary representatives are calling for different criteria, a possible point of negotiation in the trilogue.
The DSA is now set to cross the finish line as quickly as possible in the Council Working Group on Competition and Growth: The third compromise draft is to be presented on November 8th, finalized on November 11th, discussed in COREPER I on November 17th, and the General Approach then adopted at the Competition Council on November 25th. The trilogue could then begin under the French Council Presidency in January.
After Germany, France and, the Netherlands submitted a joint proposal in May for a newly to be introduced Article 16a, which would have allowed the Commission for Gatekeepers extensive rights of intervention in the design of online providers on the basis of an in-depth market investigation, the Council position is now to be extended at this point.
However, the situation is different with the second proposal included: The three Member States had called for a stronger role of the national supervisory authorities, especially the competition and antitrust authorities. According to negotiating circles, the three heavyweights were not able to push through this proposal; the DMA is to continue to be enforced exclusively by the European Commission, albeit in close cooperation with the national authorities.
The Council position on the DMA is also to be finalised in November by Council working groups and the COREPER I.
The much less controversial DGA could be finally adopted very soon: The first trialogue of Parliament, Council and, Commission on the DGA took place on 26 October and is described by participants as very constructive.
The Council’s Telecoms Working Group has continued its work on the AI Regulation. According to participants, initial opinions on about a third of the regulation, including the controversial Article 29 on high-risk applications, are expected in the coming weeks.
These initial opinions are to be processed into a first partial compromise before the end of the year.
Slight progress has been made in the consultations on the e-privacy regulation, which has been overdue for five years and should actually enter into force at the same time as the General Data Protection Regulation. The next trilogue is due to take place on November 18th.
The Council working group was not given a mandate to negotiate on the issue of the retention of connection and location data (VDS): according to government circles in Germany, the Federal Ministry of the Interior Building and Community, under its outgoing acting Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, had attempted to raise the issue again.
This was rejected by the SPD. The Social Democrats are currently negotiating with the Greens and the FDP about the formation of the next government coalition – parts of the SPD and large parts of the Greens and the FDP reject data retention, in the exploratory result a review of all laws with surveillance character was sought.
The e-privacy regulation will probably occupy at least the coming French Council Presidency, which begins at the turn of the year.
Paris is not only the city of love and savoir-vivre, but also a think tank for a better future. A few weeks ago, the French capital introduced a 30-kilometre-per-hour speed limit to encourage more sustainable traffic, and more innovations of this kind are expected to follow. Just a few blocks from the Arc de Triomphe is the Institut Montaigne, an influential private-sector economic policy think tank.
Academics, experts from science and business, citizens and representatives from government circles work together on studies and international comparative statistics to analyse social coexistence, competitiveness and the optimisation of government spending. Théophile Lenoir, head of the institute’s digital program, is particularly concerned with the interactions between the labour market, digitalization, and data. His goal is to modernize the management of digital technologies and transform France’s digital public space.
Lenoir is not only a digitization expert, but also a communications scholar and a passionate violinist in his private life. After successfully graduating from the London School of Economics, he studied journalism in South Carolina (USA) and worked in start-ups at the interface between media and technology.
With his work, he wants to find answers to previously unanswered questions: Who needs to access what data for what purpose ? And how can you get worlds that don’t talk to each other to work together? “This is the challenge cities face to get out of the data stone age. The health situation in particular has highlighted the importance of communication between stakeholders and information systems.”
However, the tough assessment of political action is also part of Lenoir’s business: in October, together with his colleague Gilles Babinet, he will take stock of Emmanuel Macron’s digital promises and their fulfilment during his term in office.
Lenoir shows how to present itself as a modern think tank and also reach younger generations. For example, with short YouTube clips in smartphone format. Among other things, he talks about how to deal with platforms (such as delivery and chauffeur services), which have created a new working environment and thus new problems: “The platform economy does not provide social security for employees.”
To change this, the Montaigne Institute has conducted the first statistical survey on bicycle couriers to understand the challenges of these new forms of work and propose solutions. The focus is on developing a responsible economy that respects workers’ interests and is sustainable in the long term. Giorgia Grimaldi
