ESPR Guide — the Ecodesign Regulation and the DPP

What is ESPR and what does it change?

ESPR can regulate durability, repairability, recycled content, and energy and resource efficiency; it restricts the destruction of unsold consumer goods; and it foresees a DPP for each product in scope. The rules do not apply to all products at once — they arrive through product-specific delegated acts.

How do delegated acts work?

For a product group, the Commission first runs a JRC preparatory study, then publishes a draft delegated act. The draft sets that group’s ecodesign requirements and DPP data fields. The ESPR Working Plan 2025–2030 shows which groups come first. The dates are indicative and can shift.

Where does the DPP sit in ESPR?

The DPP is at the heart of ESPR. Three points matter most to an exporter:

• EU DPP Registry (Article 13): a central index where identifiers are registered — not a data store, but an index integrated with customs.
• Availability: the passport must remain available for the product’s regulated life.
• Independent back-up (Article 10(4)): an independent back-up copy is expected so the record survives even if the service provider fails.

Obligations for the exporter

The DPP is a market-access condition: a product in scope without a passport cannot enter the EU. The economic operator (often the brand/importer) is responsible, but the data is required from the supply chain by contract. The ban on destroying unsold consumer goods is a separate obligation.