The Commission has published a clarification today of how suppliers and retailers of energy-labelled products should show energy label classes in their visual advertising and promotional material. Today’s Notice follows a European Court of Justice ruling in October 2023 relating to energy labelling of ovens and range hoods, but which has implications for other products. The ruling stated that it was not sufficient only to show the class of the product (e.g. 'A' or 'B') in advertisements, but it was necessary also to show the relevant range of classes (e.g 'A++ to D' or 'A to G'). Since 2021, energy labelling rules have been updated and rescaled for some product categories, so that the range is never higher than 'A'. For products that have not yet been rescaled, however, the most efficient class can vary between 'A' and 'A+++', and the least efficient is not always 'G'. The Court’s ruling will provide more clarity for consumers. And the guidance published by the Commission today is intended to help suppliers and dealers become more aware of the ruling and to operationalise the changes needed as a result of it.
From now on economic operators must use a letter in an arrow alongside the relevant range of classes in their visual advertising of domestic ovens and range hoods, including catalogues and other promotion materials. And suppliers of other energy-labelled products which have not yet been rescaled should also include such a pictogram with the relevant range wherever possible.
The Commission already provides a pictogram highlighting the necessary change, as applicable for oven cavities. The relevant pictograms for ovens and range hoods will be made available in the European Product Registry for Energy Labelling (EPREL) and automatically retrievable via Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) in the course of 2024. Pictograms will follow for each of the other relevant product groups.
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Details
- Publication date
- 15 July 2024
- Author
- Directorate-General for Energy