ESPR Delegated Acts and the Digital Product Passport: A Guide to Rules, Dates and Obligations for Businesses

1. Background: ESPR and the DPP

The Digital Product Passport (DPP) is one of the central instruments of Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 on ecodesign for sustainable products (ESPR), in force since July 2024. Its purpose is to make information on the sustainability, composition, repairability and end of life of products sold in the Union available to consumers, supply-chain operators and authorities.

The ESPR is a framework regulation: it sets principles, architecture and general obligations, but does not list requirements for individual products. These are defined, product group by product group, through delegated acts of the European Commission (Article 4 ESPR).

The DPP does not come from the ESPR alone, however. Other sector-specific laws provide for their own passport, which feeds into the same infrastructure: the Batteries Regulation (EU) 2023/1542, the new Construction Products Regulation (EU) 2024/3110, the Toy Safety Regulation (EU) 2025/2509 and the Detergents Regulation (EU) 2026/405.

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2. What delegated acts are (and what they are not)

Delegated acts are legally binding acts provided for by Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU). The European Parliament and the Council of the EU — the co-legislators — delegate to the Commission the power to supplement or amend non-essential elements of a legislative act, within limits set by the act itself.

For the DPP, then, the delegated act does not decide whether to introduce the passport: the ESPR does that. It decides how to apply it to a specific product category.

It is useful to distinguish them from implementing acts (Article 291 TFEU), which lay down uniform conditions for implementation. In the DPP world, for example, the operating rules of the central registry are an implementing act (see section 6).

	Delegated act (Art. 290 TFEU)	Implementing act (Art. 291 TFEU)
Function	Supplements or amends non-essential elements of the law	Sets uniform conditions for implementation
DPP example	Ecodesign and DPP requirements for iron and steel	Operating rules of the DPP registry
Oversight	Parliament and Council may raise objections	Member State committees (comitology)

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3. What each delegated act defines

For each product group, the delegated act specifies in particular:

• Product and information requirements – which data must appear in the DPP: for example environmental or carbon footprint, substances of concern, recycled content, durability, disassembly and repair instructions.
• Data carrier – the physical carrier linking the product to the passport (e.g. QR code, digital watermark, RFID tag) and where to place it: on the product, the packaging or the accompanying documentation.
• Level of granularity – whether the passport applies to the model, the batch or the individual item.
• Access rights – which information is public and which is reserved for market surveillance authorities, repairers, remanufacturers or recyclers.
• Application timing – the date from which the obligation takes effect and any transition period.

Cross-cutting technical aspects (unique identifiers, interoperability, data formats, storage) are instead covered by the European harmonised standards on the DPP, already published (see section 6), which the delegated acts refer to.

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4. Timelines by sector

The DPP is being introduced gradually. The order of sectors is set by the first ESPR and Energy Labelling Working Plan 2025‑2030 (COM(2025) 187), adopted by the Commission on 16 April 2025.

Sector	Legal basis	Act adoption (indicative)	DPP obligation (estimate)	Status as of November 2026
Batteries (electric vehicle, LMT, industrial > 2 kWh)	Batteries Regulation 2023/1542, Art. 77	Already law	18 February 2027 (firm date)	A few months away
Iron and steel	ESPR – delegated act	Q4 2026	~2028	Public consultation closed (20 May – 12 August 2026); act not yet adopted
Textiles and apparel	ESPR – delegated act	2027	~2028‑2029	Preparatory study completed
Tyres	ESPR – delegated act	2027	~2029	In preparation
Aluminium	ESPR – delegated act	2027	~2029	In preparation
Furniture	ESPR – delegated act	2028	~2030	Not yet started
Mattresses	ESPR – delegated act	2029	~2031	Not yet started
Electronics (horizontal measures)	ESPR – delegated acts	Repairability 2027; recycled content 2029	To be determined	Not yet started

Some important clarifications:

• Batteries. This is the first mandatory DPP, but it is governed directly by the Batteries Regulation, not by an ESPR delegated act. From 18 February 2027 it covers all batteries for electric vehicles and light means of transport (LMT: e‑bikes, e‑scooters, e‑mopeds) regardless of capacity, and industrial batteries only above 2 kWh. Portable batteries and starting, lighting and ignition (SLI) batteries are outside the passport requirement.
• Footwear. It is excluded from the “textiles” group in the first working plan, pending a dedicated study.
• Chemicals and plastics. They are not among the priorities of the 2025‑2030 plan; assessments are under way for some chemical products that could bring them into later plans.
• Energy-related products. Work already started under the previous 2022‑2024 plan continues (e.g. dishwashers, electric motors, electric vehicle chargers, displays).
• ESPR dates are indicative. They become binding only when the delegated act is published in the Official Journal. The delay already seen on iron and steel suggests planning around date ranges, not fixed deadlines.

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5. The procedure: from draft to obligation

Each ESPR delegated act follows a five-stage process:

1. Preparatory study. The Joint Research Centre (JRC) or an external contractor analyses the product group: environmental impacts, market, improvement potential, data to include in the DPP. It typically takes 18‑24 months and includes stakeholder consultations.
2. Ecodesign Forum and public consultation. The Commission discusses options with the Forum (industry, NGOs, Member States), opens a call for evidence and, once the draft is ready, publishes it on the Have Your Say portal for 4 weeks of feedback.
3. Adoption and scrutiny period. Once adopted by the Commission, the act is notified to the European Parliament and the Council, which have 2 months, extendable by a further 2, to raise objections. They cannot amend it: they can only accept or reject it. If there are no objections, the act is published in the Official Journal and enters into force.
4. Transition period. Between entry into force and actual application, the ESPR normally provides for at least 18 months, except in justified cases. This is the time to adapt the supply chain, collect data from suppliers and set up IT systems.
5. Application and surveillance. From that date, products in the relevant group may be placed on the EU market only with a compliant DPP registered in the EU registry. Checks and penalties are the responsibility of national market surveillance authorities.

Rule of thumb: realistically, two years or more pass between the opening of the public consultation on a delegated act and the actual obligation. The consultation is the signal that the countdown has begun.

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6. What is already operational today

Even though product-specific delegated acts have not yet arrived, in 2026 the DPP infrastructure became concrete:

• Harmonised standards. With Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/1736, published on 15 July 2026, the Commission referenced six CEN/CENELEC harmonised standards on the DPP (developed under mandate M/604), including EN 18219 on unique identifiers. The security and authentication part is still in draft.
• EU DPP registry. Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1778 of 16 July 2026 sets the rules for the registry provided for by Article 13 ESPR. The registry, with its test environment, has been operational since 20 July 2026, and the regulation has been in force since 6 August 2026.
• How the registry works. It does not hold the full passport, which stays with the operator or its service provider: it securely stores at least the unique identifier and the registration metadata. A product subject to a DPP cannot be placed on the market until its passport is registered.
• Already now, businesses can create an account in the registry and test their data against the official data models, with no obligation.
• Next piece: the rules for DPP service providers, expected by the end of 2026.

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7. How to prepare: a checklist for businesses

Waiting for the delegated act to be published means having, at best, 18 months for a project that touches suppliers, information systems and labelling. It is better to start now, with steps that are useful whatever the final detail of the requirements.

Mapping (now)

• Identify which of your products fall under the ESPR Working Plan or other laws with a DPP (batteries, construction products, toys, detergents).
• Define your role for each product: manufacturer, importer, distributor, authorised representative.
• Follow the consultations on the Have Your Say portal for your sectors.

Data and supply chain (next 6‑12 months)

• Check which data already exists and where: composition, substances, material origin, environmental data, repair instructions.
• Engage suppliers on the data they will need to provide and the formats.
• Adopt unique identifiers based on shared standards (e.g. GS1 Digital Link) and consistent with EN 18219.

Systems and governance

• Integrate ERP, PLM and PIM with the passport management platform.
• Decide on the likely granularity (model, batch, item) and the impact on packaging and the data carrier.
• Create a test account in the EU registry and trial a pilot passport.
• Appoint an internal owner and plan a multi-year budget.

If you manufacture or import batteries: the obligation applies from 18 February 2027. The priority now is to finalise data collection, identifiers and registration.

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8. Frequently asked questions

Is there already a DPP obligation for my product? As of November 2026, no product-specific ESPR delegated act has been adopted, so no product yet has a DPP obligation arising from the ESPR. The first concrete obligation is for batteries (Batteries Regulation), from 18 February 2027.

Are the Working Plan dates binding? No. The Working Plan is a planning document: the dates become obligations only when the individual delegated act is published, which also sets the transition period.

How much time will I have after a delegated act is published? Normally at least 18 months between entry into force and application, except in justified cases where the act may set different timing.

What do I need to register in the EU registry? Not the full passport, but the unique identifier and the required metadata. The complete data stays with the economic operator or its DPP service provider.

Can Parliament and the Council amend a delegated act? No. They can only raise objections within the scrutiny period (2 months, extendable by 2). If there is an objection, the act does not enter into force.