1992L0075 — EN — 20.11.2003 — 001.001 — 1
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►B COUNCILDIRECTIVE92/75/EEC
of22September1992
ontheindicationbylabellingandstandardproductinformationoftheconsumptionofenergyand
otherresourcesbyhouseholdappliances
(OJ L 297, 13.10.1992, p. 16)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
►M1Regulation (EC) No 1882/2003 of the European Parliament and of the
Council of 29 September 2003L 284 1 31.10.2003
▼B
COUNCILDIRECTIVE92/75/EEC
of22September1992
ontheindicationbylabelling andstandardproductinformationof
theconsumptionofenergyandotherresourcesbyhouseholdappli-
ances
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European EconomicCommunity, and in particular Article 100a thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (
1),
In cooperation withth e European Parliament (2),
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee (3),
Whereas measures should be taken progressively to achieve the internal
market by 31 December 1992;
Whereas certain Member States already have their own voluntary
schemes for energy labelling and the provision of other energyconsumption information for household appliances; whereas oneMember State has formally proposed introducing its own compulsorylabelling scheme, and other Member States are considering such intro-
duction; whereas the existence of a number of compulsory national
schemes would create barriers to intra-Community trade;
Whereas Article 130r of the Treaty requires prudent and rational utili-
zation of natural resources; whereas the rational use of energy is one ofthe principal means by which this objective can be achieved and envir-
onmental pollution reduced;
Whereas the provision of accurate, relevant and comparable informa-
tion on the specific energy consumption of household appliances mayinfluence the public's choice in favour of those appliances whichconsume less energy, thus prompting manufacturers to take steps to
reduce the consumption of the appliances which they manufacture;
whereas it will also, indirectly, encourage the efficient use of theseappliances; whereas, in the absence of this information, the operationof market forces alone will fail to promote the rational use of energyfor these appliances;
Whereas information plays a key role in the operation of market forces
and it is therefore necessary to introduce a uniform label for all appli-ances of the same type, to provide potential purchasers withsupplementary standardized information on those appliances' costs interms of energy and the consumption of other resources and to take
measures to ensure that potential purchasers who do not see the appli-
ance displayed, and thus have no opportunity to see the label, are alsosupplied withth is information;
Whereas to this end the energy consumption of and other information
concerning eachtype of appliance must be measured in accordance
with harmonized standards and methods and the application of these
standards and methods must be monitored at the marketing stage;
Whereas Directive 79/530/EEC (
4) sought to promote these aims in the
case of household appliances; whereas, however, only one imple-menting Directive for electric ovens has been adopted and few
Member States have introduced this label; whereas it is therefore now
necessary to learn from the experience acquired and to strengthen theprovisions of that Directive; whereas Directive 79/530/EEC must there-1992L0075 — EN — 20.11.2003 — 001.001 — 2
(1) OJ No C 235, 10. 9. 1991, p. 5.
(2) OJ No C 125, 18. 5. 1992, p. 172 and
OJ No C 241, 21. 9. 1992.
(3) OJ No C 49, 24. 2. 1992, p. 32.
(4) OJ No L 145, 13. 6. 1979, p. 1.
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fore be replaced and Directive 79/531/EEC (1) applying to those elec-
tric ovens should be revised and subsequently integrated into thepresent scheme;
Whereas a completely voluntary scheme would lead to only some
appliances being labelled, or supplied withstandard product informa-
tion, with the risk that this might result in confusion for some
consumers; whereas the present scheme must therefore ensure that forall the appliances concerned, the energy consumption is indicated bylabelling and standard product fiches are provided;
Whereas household appliances use a wide variety of forms of energy,
with electricity and gas being the most important; whereas this Direc-tive must therefore in principle cover appliances using any form of
energy;
Whereas Council Directive 86/594/EEC of 1 December 1986 on
airborne noise emitted by household appliances (
2) provides for an indi-
cation of noise emission to be included on energy labels, where
appropriate; whereas provision must therefore be made for the incor-poration of any other information and labelling covered byCommunity schemes;
Whereas only those types of appliances whose aggregate energy use is
significant and which afford adequate scope for increased efficiencyneed be included,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
Article 1
1. The purpose of this Directive is to enable the harmonization of
national measures on the publication, particularly by means of labellingand of product information, of information on the consumption ofenergy and of other essential resources, and additional informationconcerning certain types of household appliances, thereby allowingconsumers to choose more energy-efficient appliances. This Directive
shall apply to the following types of household appliances, even where
these are sold for non-household uses:
— refrigerators, freezers and their combinations,
— washing machines, driers and their combinations,
— dishwashers,
— ovens,
— water heaters and hot-water storage appliances,
— lighting sources,
— air-conditioning appliances.
2. Further types of household appliances may be added to the list in
this Article in accordance with Article 9 (b).
3. This Directive shall not apply to the rating plate or its equivalent
affixed for safety purposes to suchappliances.
4. For the purpose of this Directive:
—dealermeans a retailer or other person who sells, hires, offers for
hire-purchase or displays household appliances to end-users,
—suppliermeans the manufacturer or his authorized representative in
the Community or the person who places the product on theCommunity market,
—information sheet means a standard table of information relating to
the appliance in question,
—other essential resources means water, chemicals or any other
substance consumed by an appliance in normal use,1992L0075 — EN — 20.11.2003 — 001.001 — 3
(1) OJ No L 145, 13. 6. 1979, p. 7.
(2) OJ No L 344, 6. 12. 1986, p. 24.
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—supplementary information means other information concerning the
performance of an appliance, which relates to, or is helpful in eval-uating, its use of energy or other essential resources.
5. There shall be no obligation to label or to provide fiches in
respect of models of appliances of which production has ceased beforethe relevant implementing directive comes into effect, or second-handappliances.
Article 2
1. Information relating to the consumption of electric energy, other
forms of energy and other essential resources and supplementary infor-mation shall be brought to consumers' attention by means of a fiche
and a label related to household appliances offered for sale, hire, hire-
purchase or displayed to end-users.
2. Details relating to the label and the fiche shall be defined by
directives relating to eachtype of appliance adopted pursuant to th is
Directive in accordance withArticle 9.
3. Technical documentation shall be established which shall be
sufficient to enable the accuracy of the information contained in thelabel and the fiche to be assessed. It shall include:
— a general description of the product,
— the results of design calculations carried out, where these are rele-
vant,
— test reports, where available, including those carried out by relevant
notified organizations as defined under other Community legisla-tion,
— where values are derived from those obtained for similar models,
the same information for these models.
4. The supplier shall establish the technical documentation described
in paragraph3. To th is end it may use documentation already requiredon the basis of relevant Community legislation. The supplier shallmake this documentation available for inspection purposes for a period
ending five years after the last product has been manufactured.
Article 3
1. All suppliers placing on the market the household appliances
specified in the implementing directives shall supply a label in accor-
dance with this Directive. The labels used shall in all respects complywithth is Directive and withth e implementing directives.
2. In addition to the labels, suppliers shall provide a product fiche.
This fiche shall be contained in all product brochures. Where these
are not provided by the supplier, he shall supply fiches with other
literature provided with the appliance. The fiches used shall in allrespects comply with this Directive and with the implementing Direc-tives.
3. Suppliers shall be responsible for the accuracy of the labels and
fiches that they supply.
4. The supplier shall be deemed to have given his consent to the
publication of the information given on the label or the fiche.
Article 4
In respect of labelling and product information, the following provi-
sions shall apply:
(a) whenever an appliance specified in an implementing directive is
displayed, dealers shall attach an appropriate label, in the clearlyvisible position specified in the relevant implementing directive,and in the relevant language version;
(b) the supplier shall supply the necessary labels free of charge, to
dealers referred to in paragraph(a). Suppliers are free to ch oosetheir own system for delivery of labels. However, where a dealer1992L0075 — EN — 20.11.2003 — 001.001 — 4
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sends a request for labels, the supplier must ensure that the
requested labels are delivered promptly.
Article 5
Where the relevant appliances are offered for sale, hire or hire-
purchase by mail order, by catalogue, or by other means which implythat the potential customer cannot be expected to see the appliance
displayed, the implementing directives shall make provision to ensure
that potential customers are provided with the essential informationspecified in the label or the fiche before buying an appliance.
Article 6
The implementing Directives shall make provision for the inclusion on
the label or on the fiche of information on airborne noise, where suchinformation is provided pursuant to Directive 86/594/EEC and of otherpublic information relating to the relevant appliance, which is providedpursuant to other Community legislation.
Article 7
Member States shall take all necessary measures to ensure that:
(a) all suppliers and dealers established in their territory fulfil their
obligations under this Directive;
(b) if this is likely to mislead or confuse, the display of other labels,
marks, symbols or inscriptions relating to energy consumptionwhich do not comply with the requirements of this Directive andof the relevant implementing directives is prohibited. This prohibi-tion shall not apply to Community or national environmental
labelling schemes;
(c) the introduction of the system of labels and fiches concerning
energy consumption is accompanied by educational and promo-tional information campaigns aimed at encouraging moreresponsible use of energy by private consumers.
Article 8
1. Where the provisions of this Directive and of the implementing
directives are satisfied, Member States shall neither prohibit nor restrictthe placing on the market of the household appliances covered by animplementing directive.
2. Unless they have evidence to the contrary, Member States shall
deem labels and fiches to comply with the provisions of this Directiveand the implementing directives. They may require suppliers to furnishevidence within the meaning of Article 2 (3) concerning the accuracy
of the information supplied on their labels or fiches when they have
reason to suspect it is incorrect.
Article 9
The measures relating to the establishment and operation of the scheme
shall be adopted and adapted to technical progress in accordance withthe procedure set out in Article 10. These measures are:
(a) the implementing directives;
(b) the addition of further household appliances to the list in Article 1
(1) where significant energy savings are likely to be achieved.1992L0075 — EN — 20.11.2003 — 001.001 — 5
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Article 10
1. The Commission shall be assisted by a committee.2. Where reference is made to this Article, Articles 5 and 7 of Deci-
sion 1999/468/EC (
1) shall apply, having regard to the provisions of
Article 8 thereof.
The period laid down in Article 5(6) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be
set at three months.
3. The Committee shall adopt its rules of procedure.
Article 11
After the expiry of a period of three years from the application of this
Directive, the Commission shall make an assessment of the implemen-tation thereof and the results obtained. The assessment shall be thesubject of a report to be submitted to the European Parliament and theCouncil.
Article 12
The implementing directives shall specify:
(a) the exact definition of the type of appliances to be included;
(b) the measurement standards and methods to be used in obtaining the
information referred to in Article 1 (1);
(c) details of the technical documentation required under Article 2 (3);
(d) the design and content of the label referred to in Article 2, which
as far as possible shall have uniform design characteristics;
(e) the location where the label shall be fixed to the appliance. Where
appropriate they may provide for the label to be attached to or
printed on the packaging;
(f) the content and where appropriate the format and other details
concerning the fiche or further information specified in Article 3(2). The information on the label shall also be included on the
fiche;
(g) the information to be provided in the case of offers for sale covered
by Article 5, and the manner in which it is to be provided.
Article 13
Directive 79/530/EEC is hereby repealed, with effect from 1 January
1994.
Directive 79/531/EEC shall be considered as implementing this Direc-
tive for electric ovens; however Member States may refrain from itscompulsory introduction, until a date set in a revised implementing
directive concerning ovens passed in accordance withth e procedure
laid down in Article 10.
Article 14
1. Member States shall adopt the provisions necessary to comply
with this Directive by 1 July 1993. They shall immediately notify theCommission of these measures.
They shall bring these provisions into force by not later than 1 January
1994.
2. When Member States adopt these measures, they shall contain a
reference to this Directive or shall be accompanied by such reference1992L0075 — EN — 20.11.2003 — 001.001 — 6
(1) Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures
for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission (OJ
L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23).▼B
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on the occasion of their official publication. The methods of making
such a reference shall be laid down by the Member States.
3. Member States shall communicate to the Commission the main
provisions of domestic law which they adopt in the field covered by
this Directive.
Article 15
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.1992L0075 — EN — 20.11.2003 — 001.001 — 7