The Council adopted a revised eco-design directive following a first-reading agreement with the European Parliament. The new directive extends the scope of the existing directive 2005/32 by covering in principle all energy-related products.

The current eco-design directive, adopted in 2008, contemplated mandatory reductions in electricity consumption of appliances, computers, printers and televisions. With the new rule many more products will have to adapt to a number of requirements in support of obtaining increasing energy efficiency.

The amendment of this directive is part of a package of energy efficiency with which the EU intends to reduce its energy consumption by up to 20% in 2020, and this package is a major priority of the current government of the Union.

This will improve the energy and resource efficiency of a much wider range of products and reduce demand on natural resources, contributing to the security of energy supply and to the achievement of greenhouse gas emission targets in the EU. At the same time, economic savings for businesses and end-users can be expected.

The current eco-design rules deal only with energy-using products, such as washing machines, freezers or hair-driers. In the future, products such as windows, insulation materials, or certain water using products like shower heads or taps are covered as well.

The eco-design directive foresees the establishment of requirements that energy-related products must meet if they are to benefit from free movement within the Community. These requirements will have to be decided under the comitology-procedure by the Commission, following an impact assessment.

The new rules require manufacturers of energy related products to consider already at the design stage the environmental impact of those products throughout their whole life cycle, thus facilitating environmental improvement in a cost-effective way.