Ecodesign and energy labelling compliance support facility for suppliers and retailers

Expected Impact:

Proposals should present the concrete results which will be delivered by the activities and demonstrate how these results will contribute to the topic-specific impacts. This demonstration should rely on a solid analysis of the current situation, realistic assumptions and baselines, and establish clear causality links between proposed activities, results and impacts.

In terms of qualitative impact, proposals under this topic should demonstrate how they will contribute to increased understanding of and compliance with EU ecodesign and energy labelling legislation by economic operators.

In terms of quantitative impact, proposals should quantify their results and impacts using the indicators provided for the topic, when they are relevant for the proposed activities. Proposals are not expected to address all the listed impacts and indicators. The results and impacts should be quantified for the end of the project and for 5 years after the end of the project. The quantitative indicators for this topic include:

• Number of economic operators engaged and informed by actions aiming at improving their understanding of new legislative acts, at least 5 000 per million EUR of EU funding.
• Primary energy savings triggered by the project (in GWh/year).
• Renewable energy generation triggered by the project (in GWh/year).
• Investments in sustainable energy renovation triggered by the project (cumulative, in million Euro).

Proposals should also provide indicators which are specific to their proposed activities.

These impacts should be demonstrated during the project and within 5 years after the project lifetime.

Specific consortium requirements: Proposals must be submitted by at least 3 applicants (beneficiaries; not affiliated entities) from 3 different eligible countries.

Expected project duration: Indicatively 36 months

Maximum Funding rate and maximum EU contribution:

Maximum funding rate: 90%

The Commission considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU of up to EUR 2.5 million would allow the specific objectives to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts.

Objective:

Ecodesign and energy labelling^[1] for energy-related products enjoy widespread support by suppliers, retailers, consumers and citizens. By eliminating worst performing products from the market and by providing relevant information on product sustainability and energy consumption, these policy instruments help consumers make better informed purchase decisions and create economic benefits for them, support producers to better promote and market their sustainable and energy efficient products and contribute to major EU policy objectives (Green Deal, EU energy independency etc.).

However, non-compliance with the requirements remains a concern as a significant portion of products on the European market still fails to meet the information and performance requirements. Economic operators such as manufacturers, suppliers and (online) dealers (e.g. retailers, installers) too often lack awareness, knowledge or detailed understanding of the legislative provisions. In addition, recent policy reports such as the Letta^[2] and Draghi^[3] reports on the EU single market and competitiveness, but also the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products and Energy Labelling Working Plan 2025-2030^[4] highlight the importance of enforcing compliance with product legislation and effective market surveillance to ensure market integrity and a level playing field for economic operators active in the European market.

The objective of this topic is to ultimately increase compliance of products on the European market with ecodesign and energy labelling requirements through proactive outreach to and engagement of economic operators fostering an improved understanding and implementation of product performance and information requirements and facilitating the uptake of (existing) resources available.

Scope:

The proposed action should establish a facility combining both reactive and proactive assistance to economic operators, in particular manufacturers, suppliers and (online) dealers (e.g. retailers, installers), through targeted and timely information to increase their awareness, knowledge and understanding of the relevant ecodesign and energy labelling regulations. Attention should be given to engaging small and medium-sized suppliers and dealers, for example, those not engaged in trade associations and/or located in remote areas.

Proposals should cover at least the following with both a reactive and proactive approach:

• Raise the capacity of manufacturers, suppliers and (online) dealers (e.g. retailers, installers) on ecodesign and energy labelling requirements and developments through targeted and timely communication, dissemination and capacity building activities.
• Set-up a help-line service to address enquiries from economic operators (which are often too specific to be dealt with effectively by the Commission’s Europe Direct service). Questions for which no authoritative or clear answers exist yet may simply be acknowledged as such and “escalated” to the authorities.
• Develop and deploy effective communication and dissemination strategies and channels to target and reach out to relevant economic operators across the whole of Europe including importers who place products from third countries on the Union market.
• Disseminate, create and/or adapt existing technical guidance and promotional material, as necessary, for example, covering new (and revised) product groups by current and upcoming legislation. The proposed facility should not invent or take responsibility for interpretations of legislation or other formal guidance but rather support economic operators in accessing and applying relevant information and guidance and refer questions where no answers or guidance exists to the competent national authorities, including market surveillance authorities or the European Commission.
• Promote the use and uptake of EPREL - European Product Registry for Energy Labelling^[5] amongst economic operators. In addition, promote the use of EPREL to the wider public and public authorities as a reference point for informed purchase decisions as well as a tool for bulk purchasers and for public procurement. Proposals are invited to outline their promotion strategy to this end.
• Promote relevant available guidance/resources such as the European Commission efficient products portal^[6] through appropriate channels (e.g. websites, targeted campaigns, webinars, conferences, sectoral trade fairs, industry associations, specialised networks etc.) with the aim to increase suppliers and dealers’ awareness and stimulate their potential role as multipliers.
• Compliance support through online sweeps: organise 2 pilot spot checks of energy labelling on online shops in multiple Member States simultaneously, within the same quarter, focused on a (few) product group(s), including bilateral follow up with online stores showing problems with compliance to offer support in terms of training and tips for better compliance.
• Develop appropriate monitoring and measurement activities to adequately capture the impacts of the proposed action such as increased compliance, awareness, knowledge and engagement of economic operators in ecodesign and energy labelling regulations.

To ensure full alignment with ecodesign and energy labelling regulations as well as developments and respective information provided by the proposed action, successful beneficiaries are requested to proactively liaise and closely coordinate with the European Commission and/or the competent national authorities, including national market surveillance authorities, where appropriate.

Proposals should ensure that information, services and tools developed are accessible in national languages of the targeted countries in order to ensure accessibility and uptake.

Relevant stakeholders (e.g. European and national level organisations) necessary for the successful implementation of the action should be involved in the project consortium with an adequate balance of interests, including at least:

• European organisations representing relevant economic operators in different sectors such as associations of suppliers and associations of dealers, with a minimum of 5 partners covering together through their membership at least 2/3 of the EU Member States.
• European organisations representing relevant actors in the public or non-profit sector, with a minimum of 3 partners representing consumer associations, standardisation bodies and Market Surveillance Authorities’ organisations, covering together through their membership at least 2/3 of the EU Member States.

Access to (networks of) experts with technical knowledge on the concerned products, regulations and standards as well as the wider legal framework is necessary and should be demonstrated in the proposal. The facility would need to be sufficiently resourced to provide swift follow-up to economic operators using effective channels such as a help-line service. Expertise in communication and outreach are also needed and should be demonstrated in the proposal.

The proposal should clearly demonstrate how it builds on existing experiences and lessons learnt from LIFE ComplianceServices^[7], EEPLIANT4^[8] and other relevant projects and initiatives.

[1] https://energy-efficient-products.ec.europa.eu/ecodesign-and-energy-label_en

[2] https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/ny3j24sm/much-more-than-a-market-report-by-enrico-letta.pdf

[3] https://commission.europa.eu/topics/competitiveness/draghi-report_en

[4] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52025DC0187

[5] https://eprel.ec.europa.eu/screen/home

[6] https://energy-efficient-products.ec.europa.eu/index_en

[7] https://www.product-compliance-services.eu/

[8] https://www.eepliant.eu/