LightingEurope says Euro vote a ‘missed opportunity’ on materials

The manufacturers representative organisation LightingEurope has criticised the vote of the European Parliament vote on the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) as a ‘missed opportunity’.

The body said that the plenary vote was a missed opportunity to correct some of the shortcomings in the original European Commission’s proposal. The proposed provisions on Substances of Concern are ‘extremely burdensome’ says LightingEurope, requiring manufacturers to track thousands of substances through international supply chains.

‘Unfortunately, these obligations risk remaining mostly non-implemented and unchecked by market surveillance authorities due to a structural lack of adequate enforcement activities,’ it said in a statement.

The vote also failed to ensure that there is always a liable economic operator in the EU for products sold online which are non-compliant with the rules set by the ESPR.

Now that both the European Parliament and the Council have set their positions, inter-institutional negotiations, so-called trilogues, will start with the aim of agreeing on a common text.

‘We regret that the European Parliament has introduced new obligations for products, for example, the tracking of thousands of substances, that are very difficult to check,’ said LightingEurope secretary general Elena Scaroni.

‘We are also concerned that at the same time, the EU Council is proposing very weak rules on enforcement such as deleting the Commission’s proposal on having a minimum number of checks on products.’

‘Now, in view of the trilogues, we want to be optimistic. The Parliament and the Council can agree on the more pragmatic approach of the Council on Substances of Concern together with the reinforced enforcement rules proposed by the Parliament.

‘We trust that the negotiators from the Parliament, MEP Ms. Alessandra Moretti with the shadow rapporteurs and the Spanish Presidency will find the right balance with the support of the European Commission.’

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