Joint business statement on safeguarding the environmental and climate benefits of the ESPR

The signatories of the statement welcome the objectives of the proposed new Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) to support and improve the circularity, energy performance and other environmental sustainability aspects of products. However, the signatories caution against certain proposals made in the European Parliament to include product requirements on ‘social sustainability’ in the ESPR. This would dilute the effectiveness of Ecodesign and limit manufacturers’ ability to comply quickly. The current Ecodesign framework is a precise mechanism targeting products with energy and environmental efficiency requirements. Expanding this focus will create significant overlaps with existing and upcoming legislation dedicated to address social sustainability and due diligence of value chains, as well as jeopardise the main objective of the ESPR framework to enable environmental improvements at the level of product design.