Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on a Community energy-efficiency labelling programme for office equipment COM(2006) 576 final — 2006/0187 (COD)
Date: 2007-03-15
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: ESC opinion, EU programme, United States, eco-label, energy consumption, labelling, office supplies, technical specification

13.7.2007

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 161/97

Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Proposal for a Regulation of the
European Parliament and of the Council on a Community energy-efficiency labelling programme for
office equipment

COM(2006) 576 final — 2006/0187 (COD)

(2007/C 161/24)

On 19 October 2006, the Council decided to consult the European Economic and Social Committee, under
Article 175(1) of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned proposal.

The Section for Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and the Information Society, which was responsible for
preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 21 February 2007. The rapporteur
was Mr Voles.

At its 434th plenary session, held on 14 and 15 March 2007 (meeting of 15 March 2007), the European
Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 83 votes with 2 abstentions:

1. Conclusions and recommendations

The EESC welcomes the new agreement with the USA to
1.1
continue the coordination of
the energy-efficiency labelling
programmes Energy Star for a second period of five years and
the Commission's endeavour to introduce more stringent tech-
nical specifications for the office equipment in line with techno-
logical progress and in more flexible manner. The EESC agrees
with the Proposal to recast the Regulation (EC) 2422/2001 that
adapts the Community Energy Star programme to the new
agreement with the following remarks.

1.2 While the registration on the Energy Star database is a
prerequisite for participation in public tenders in USA the
Proposal speaks only about encouragement to use energy effi-
ciency requirements not less demanding than Energy Star for
public procurement of office equipment. The EESC suggests to
make it more binding for all public procurement on office
equipment to include the condition that the product is Energy
Star qualified.

1.3
There are several energy efficiency labelling schemes in
the EU like eco-label, eco-design and many national labels. The
Commission tried to coordinate between the Community label-
ling programmes but the results are not obvious. The EESC calls
the Commission to coordinate these labelling schemes more
efficiently to avoid any confusion among the consumers.

The public awareness about the Energy Star logo is very
1.4
limited therefore the EESC calls for the retention of the obliga-
tion on both the Commission and the Member States to publi-
cise the logo and enable to finance its promotion from the
appropriate programmes for energy efficiency like Intelligent
Energy Europe and Sustainable Energy Europe Campaign.

The EESC calls for the review of the composition of the
1.5
European Community Energy Star Board (ECESB) as the advi-
sory body to include representatives of all Member States and
the interested employers and employees organisations.

1.6
The EESC calls the Commission to increase its support
for the technological development leading to more energy effi-
through 7th Framework
ciency of
Programme and other programmes supporting science, research
and innovation.

the office

equipment

1.7
The Commission and Member States should monitor
product's eligibility for registration by performing the necessary
checkings and tests and publishing their results positive or nega-
tive that would enhance the credibility of the Energy Star label.

2. Introduction

2.1
The Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parlia-
ment and of the Council on a Community energy-efficiency
labelling programme for office equipment recasts Regulation
(EC) No 2422/2001 of the European Parliament and of the
Council of 6 November 2001 (1), which laid down the detailed
rules for the programme for labelling the energy efficiency of
office equipment
(including computers, monitors, printers,
photocopiers and faxes) with the Energy Star logo. The Euro-
pean Union joined the Energy Star programme, in operation in
the USA since 1992 and extended to other countries, through
an agreement with the USA on 19 December 2000. The EESC
adopted its opinion on this regulation in 2000 (2).

for

the

implementation of

The Commission was designated as the Managing Entity
2.2
responsible
the Energy Star
programme. Regulation (EC) No 2422/2001 created the Euro-
pean Community Energy Star Board (ECESB) as an advisory
body composed of representatives of manufacturers, experts,
traders, consumers and environmentalists in the Member States
to evaluate the programme's implementation and propose new
technical specifications to reduce the energy consumption of
office equipment.

(1) OJ L 332 of 15.12.2001.
(2) OJ C 204 of 18.7.2000.

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2.3
the
In its Communication on the implementation of
Energy Star programme in the European Community in the
period 2001-2005 of 27.3.2006, the Commission proposed
renewing for a further five years the agreement with the USA
on the Energy Star programme, which expired in June 2006, on
the grounds that:

— energy efficiency is one of the main pillars of sustainable
energy as defined in the Commission's Green Paper on
Energy Efficiency;

— office equipment accounts for a major share of electrical
energy consumption in the service sector and households,
and this share is constantly growing;

— Energy Star is a means of coordinating the efforts of the
Community and the Member States to boost energy effi-
ciency and

— provides a framework for such coordination with the USA,

Japan, Korea and other key markets;

out to tender. The Commission will also not be required to
keep the Council and the European Parliament informed of
the ECESB's activities, since all the information is available
on the Commission's ECESB internet portal.

— Art. 10: Working plan. The Commission and the ECESB will
together draw up a working plan for three years whose
implementation will be monitored and published at least
once a year.

— Art. 11: Preparatory procedures for the revision of technical
criteria. The Commission and the ECESB may take the initia-
tive to amend the Agreement and,
the
common technical specifications. The obligations for the
ECESB regarding revision of
technical specifications have
been reduced.

in particular,

— Art. 13: Implementation. This Article is repealed because
Member States are not under any obligations on which they
are required to report to the Commission.

— since most manufacturers can be expected to adhere to the
technical requirements set by the Energy Star programme, it
will make a substantial contribution to reducing the energy
consumption of the whole sector;

3. General comments

— the voluntary nature of the Energy Star programme is a
fitting complement to the mandatory labelling of products
with energy labels enshrined in Directives 92/75/EC and
2005/32/EC on ecodesign requirements and brings greater
transparency to markets.

The new agreement was approved by the Council on
2.4
18 December 2006 and signed in Washington on 20 December
2006. Providing for more stringent technical requirements on
products, its main change is the introduction of specifications
for energy consumption not only on standby, but also in other
important modes, especially in on mode. Annex C to the agree-
ment includes stringent and innovative requirements for compu-
ters, monitors and imaging equipment (photocopiers, printers,
scanners and faxes) which could make savings of up to 30 TWh
in the EU-27 over the next three years, according to ECESB esti-
mates.

2.5
The ECESB suggested that the Energy Star programme
for the new period should be implemented more effectively and
enable a quicker adaptation of technical specifications to techno-
logical development and market change. Simplification of the
Energy Star programme should result in savings for both the
Community's administration and the Member States.

The Proposal for a Regulation amends the following arti-

2.6
cles of the Regulation 2422/2001:

— Art. 6: Promotion of the logo. The Commission proposes to
abolish the obligation of Member States and the Commis-
sion to promote the logo, as the programme is voluntary
and promoting it is in the interests of manufacturers.

— Art. 8: The ECESB will no longer produce a report on the
market penetration of Energy Star products. This will be put

3.1
The EESC welcomes the Council's decision to continue
the Energy Star programme and the new partnership agreement
with the USA. Given the increasing amount and use of office
equipment, raising its energy efficiency is the right way to
reduce the growth in electricity consumption. The EESC there-
fore supports the Commission's endeavour to introduce into the
new agreement more stringent technical specifications for the
various categories of office equipment in line with technological
progress.

3.2
In its opinion on Regulation EC No 2422/2001, the
Committee stressed the need to update the agreement from time
to time by raising energy-efficiency specifications in line with
technological development and this requirement remains valid
also for the new Energy Star programme.

3.3 While registration on the Energy Star database is a prere-
quisite for participating in open tenders in the USA, there is no
such requirement in the EU. The Committee welcomes the fact
that the Regulation charges the Commission and public institu-
tions at national
level with implementing energy efficiency
requirements at least as stringent as those set out within Energy
Star for open tenders for the purchase of office equipment. The
Committee expects the Commission itself to set an example and
apply these requirements in the open tenders it runs, including
those involving the Community's development aid.

The EU Energy Star programme is one of a number of
3.4
labelling programmes concerning the energy efficiency of
products, many of which also cover office equipment; these
include Community eco-labels, eco-design and national
labels
such as the Nordic Swan, Sweden's TCO, Germany's Blue Angel
and others. The Commission apparently sought to coordinate
Energy Star with other Community labelling systems, but the
results are not obvious. The EESC therefore calls on the
Commission to try to coordinate these activities more efficiently

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in order to compare, coordinate and use common technical
specifications so that consumers and users have a clearer over-
view of the energy and ecological standards of products on offer
and are not bewildered by the many labels placed on products.
It calls the respective authorities of Member States to peruse the
Energy Star specifications where appropriate.

3.5
The agreement presupposed far-reaching and dynamic
promotional activities to make consumers and users more aware
of the logo. The EESC finds the results achieved by both the
Commission and the Member States to be inadequate. There is
very little public awareness of the logo and it does not in actual
fact influence the choice of office equipment purchased, which
in turn makes manufacturers less keen to promote it. Neither
consumer nor business or employer organisations are involved
in the promotion. The Committee therefore calls for the reten-
tion of the obligation on both the Commission and the Member
States to publicise the logo and to step up its promotion. It
recommends
to make these activities eligible for projects
financed from the Intelligent Energy Europe (IEE) programme,
Sustainable Energy Europe Campaign and other programmes.

There is the energy calculator available on www.eu-ener-
3.6
gystar.org for individual sample calculations but the manufac-
turers should be guided to include the data about Energy Star
specifications into the manuals with instructions how to make
the use of the equipment in the most energy-efficient way.

4. Specific comments

In its present

4.1
the ECESB does not
composition,
adequately represent employers', employees' organisations, inter-
ested NGOs and all the Member States. The Committee therefore
requests the Commission to reconstitute it to make it more
transparent and as representative as possible.

Brussels, 15 March 2007.

4.2
The Commission should increase its support for the tech-
nological development of more demanding specifications for
energy efficiency also through programmes for science, research
Framework
and
Programme.

innovation — especially

seventh

the

4.3
In this context, a clearer distinction should be made
between the Energy Star logo on older equipment and that on
equipment which meets the more stringent criteria which are
introduced in Annex C to the new Agreement. Some labelling
schemes use to indicate the date of the approval of the specifica-
tions. The Committee recommends discussing this with partners
from the USA.

4.4
The Commission should regularly publish information
on the savings made by applying more stringent energy-efficient
specifications
the Energy Star
programme and give specific examples of energy savings from
the public sector, businesses and households.

for office equipment under

4.5
The Energy Star agreement provides for partners to
monitor a product's eligibility for registration. The Regulation
should therefore include tasks to be performed by the Member
States relating to such monitoring, as well as basic guidelines for
carrying it out. There are no Commission documents that
provide information on checks or monitoring of products regis-
tered in the database. If such data exists, it should be made avail-
able on the programme's website; if it does not, it would be
useful to test equipment and publish the results. Failure to do so
could detract from the logo's credibility.

4.6
The EESC recommends to keep the original obligation of
the Commission to produce and submit to the European Parlia-
ment and the Council a report monitoring the energy efficiency
of the office equipment and proposing measures complemen-
tary to the programme before the end of the five years validity
of the Agreement.

The President

of the European Economic and Social Committee

Dimitris DIMITRIADIS