With looming economic difficulties and the current financial crisis, record crude oil prices which are now expected to increase following the recent drop, as well as environmental concerns that have been building up for decades, it should come as no surprise that the focus has turned on the various appliances that are constantly consuming energy.

There is a concerted effort across the board in the drive to ensure energy efficiency. There is no doubt that there is the necessary political will across the European Union, although some divergences remain on the technicalities and the timeframes on dossiers such as the energy/climate package. Besides that there also exists wide-spread public awareness that in this case every little amounts to a lot, resulting in substantial differences in household and corporate utility bills.

And if general awareness were not enough, different strategies are being thought of or implemented to direct the market towards making better use of precious energy. Among these are the so-called energy labels that allow buyers to compare products on the basis of their efficiency, amongst others, and obligatory requirements on the actual design of products.

The Energy Consumption Labelling Directive (92/75/EEC) and various amendments thereto have ensured that the efficiency of most white goods, lighting and other household goods is immediately made known to a potential customer. Today consumers are more interested in buying ‘AA’ items, in the knowledge that these are going to compensate, both financially and environmentally, in the longer term.

Eco-design for products is a more recent addition to EU-wide initiatives on this front. In 2005, the Council and the European Parliament adopted a Directive establishing a framework for eco-design requirements on products which utilise energy. These obligations are applicable to both domestic and business sectors. The stage has now been reached where the framework must be specified and implemented.

Works are at quite an advanced stage. Discussions in recent months within the Ecodesign Regulatory Committee, made up of experts from the EU-27, have resulted in the endorsement of the European Commission’s proposals for measures on stand-by power consumption, simple set-top boxes (used for digital TV), office lighting and external power supplies (such as chargers for mobile phones, cordless phones, laptop computers and other such equipment).

The endorsed proposals, in the form of regulations, are now under the European Parliament’s scrutiny. After that stage is cleared and the European Commission’s formal adoption is achieved (in the case of external power supplies this has been indicated as early 2009), the legislation shall come into force. The procedure being used in these cases is quite fast tracked, compared to other usual EU institutional procedures for new legislation.

The heat is definitely on in terms of attaining quick results. In real terms, we should see these seeping into the market more slowly. As new product designs are aligned to future requirements, electric goods on the market will become more efficient. Consumers of course would not need to dispose of the goods they have already bought. In time, however, it will become more difficult to find certain items in daily use, such as replacements of inefficient light bulbs. The market is already moving in that direction. It is mostly a matter of pushing harder to achieve the desired results.

The Malta-EU Steering and Action Committee (MEUSAC), the Malta Standards Authority and the Malta Business Bureau have teamed up to tackle the subject of eco-design in more depth and cover the various goods that shall be affected. A briefing session open for all economic operators along the supply and retail chain as well as consumers will be held on 5 November. For further information and registration kindly contact MEUSAC on email [email protected].

Julian Micallef is Civil Society Coordinator at the Malta-EU Steering and Action Committee (MEUSAC)