EN    EN EN 
EN 1   EN  COMMISSION OF THE E UROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
Brussels, 16.7.2008 
SEC(2008) 2119 
  
COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT 
accompanying the 
 
Proposal for a  
 
REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 
 
on a Community Ecolabel scheme 
  
SUMMARY OF THE IMPACT ASSESSMENT  
  
{COM(2008) 401 final} 
{SEC(2008) 2118} 
EN 2   EN Executive Summary 
According to Article 20 of  the Ecolabel Regulation1, the EU Ecolabel scheme, which has been 
in place since 1992, has to be reviewed an d the Commission must then propose any 
appropriate amendments to the Regulation. 
The overall objectives of the scheme are to  encourage the sustai nable production and 
consumption of products, and th e sustainable provisi on and use of services, by setting 
benchmarks for good environmental performance. By guiding consumers towards them, the Ecolabel should promote those products and se rvices that have me t these benchmarks 
compared to others in the same category. The Ecolabel scheme also needs to be usable as an integral and effective part of the wider Sustainable Consumption and Production policy 
framework of the European Commission, linking we ll with other instruments, such as Green 
Public Procurement (GPP), the Eco-Manageme nt and Audit Scheme (EMAS) and the Eco-
design Directive. 
The Ecolabel review and impact assessment process began in February 2002, with the launch 
of a large-scale evaluation study on Ecolabel
2. In addition to the review, a number of 
stakeholder consultations have taken place, culmin ating in a public intern et consultation at the 
beginning of 2006, the results of wh ich indicated strongly the n eed for significant changes to 
be made to the Ecolabel Regulation. The impact  assessment shows that the current scheme is 
unable to achieve its objectives as it suffers fr om low awareness of the label and low uptake 
by industry resulting amongst others from excessively bureaucratic processes and 
management.  
Three main or macro-options are considered in  this impact assessment: continuing with the 
present approach; phasing out the scheme; or ma king modifications to the scheme. Within the 
last option a number of micro- options are analysed and then considered as a package of 
measures representing the best modifications of  the scheme. Following the analysis of impacts 
this last option has been chosen. The following p ackage of measures is therefore proposed for 
the modification and simplification of the scheme: 
● Design Regulation to better fit into the ot her sustainable production and consumption 
actions of the Commission; 
● Open up the scope of the label; 
● Introduce measures to encourage harmoni sation with other eco-labelling schemes: 
EU Ecolabel criteria as a standard for othe r eco-labels; fast track  procedure to adopt 
criteria developed by national ecolabel schemes; 
● More product groups / quic ker criteria development; 
● Introduce a template for criteria documents to ensure they are more user friendly; 
● Incorporate guidance for Green Public Purchasing into criteria development; 
● Simplification of the assessment and veri fication procedures and abolition of the 
annual fee; 
● Peer review for Competent Bodies; 
                                                 
1 Regulation (EC) No 1980/2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 July 2000 on a 
revised Community eco-label award scheme  
(http://ec.europa.eu/environment/ecolabel/pdf/regulation/001980_en.pdf ) 
2 http://ec.europa.eu/environment/ecolabel/revision_en.htm  
EN 3   EN ● Boost marketing. 
It can be expected that this modification and si mplification of the scheme will lead, on the one 
hand to a considerable increase in companies using the label, therefore also to an increase in Ecolabelled products on the mark et and, on the other hand, to an increase in th e number of 
consumers that know about, and ar e prepared to buy, Ecolabelled products as well as to an 
increase in the use of EU Ecolabel criteria in public procurement. The Ecolabel will be better 
tailored to policy makers, particularly within  the framework of the Sustainable Consumption 
and Production Action Plan, and w ill be a useful benchmark and information tool on the 
environmental performance of products and services. 
The economic and environmental impacts of the scheme will depend on the Ecolabel's 
success and this will in turn depend, amongst ot her factors, on how we ll it co-ordinates with 
other policy instruments aiming at promoting innovation in the life-cycle environmental 
performance of products. Forthcoming Commi ssion actions on Sustaina ble Consumption and 
Production will examine ways to use a range of product policy instruments in a coherent and co-ordinated way to maximise their effect as a whole in driving both innovation and sales of 
better performing products. As  the Ecolabel is part of this package of instruments, its impact 
will need to be judged as part of it. 
This impact assessment concludes that, as a voluntary instrument, a m odified Ecolabel can 
have net economic benefits for the EU economy, and increase both competition and competitiveness. The Ecolabel therefore works with the market and – with its simplified 
approach – is a model "better regulation" policy instrument.