Activities of Xabier BENITO ZILUAGA related to 2017/2087(INI)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the implementation of the Ecodesign Directive (2009/125/EC)
Amendments (17)
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas ecodesign brings economic benefits for consumers and contributes significantly to the Union’s climate, energy and circular economy policies;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas more than 80% of the environmental impact of a product is determined at the design stage;
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion
Recital A b (new)
Recital A b (new)
Ab. whereas the Commission estimates that the Ecodesign Directive, together with the Energy Labelling Regulation, contributes to around half of the energy savings target for 2020, and has a larger potential in the longer term1a, and that both legal acts should reduce dependence on fossil fuels imports by 23% for natural gas and 37% for coal2a; __________________ 1aCommunication from the Commission, Ecodesign Working Plan 2016-2019, COM(2016)0773 2aReport from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council, Review of Directive 2010/30/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 May 2010 on the indication of labelling and standard product information of the consumption of energy and other resources by energy-related products, COM(2015)0345
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion
Recital A c (new)
Recital A c (new)
Ac. whereas the Union is a signatory party of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) and is therefore required to take action on phasing out those hazardous substances, by also limiting their use at the product design stage;
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion
Recital A d (new)
Recital A d (new)
Ad. whereas the design stage plays a role of outmost importance in promoting the durability, upgradability, reparability and recyclability of a product;
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion
Recital A e (new)
Recital A e (new)
Ae. whereas the European Parliament and the European Economic and Social Committee have asked on several occasions for a broadening of the scope of the Ecodesign Directive, along with consumer protection stakeholders, the scientific community and a wide range of civil society organisations;
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Calls for the ecodesign criteria to be broadened to include resource efficiency, the circular economy and health; considers it necessary to combine resource efficiency and circularity of materials with continuous and improved energy savings; stresses that energy should be considered a key resource and that products should be optimised for both energy consumption, emissions, water consumption and material use; believes that focusing on the criteria of durability, upgradability, reparability and recyclability will also provide a unique opportunity for job development;
Amendment 30 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Stresses that the use of materials and substances of critical importance, such as Rare Earth Elements (REE), Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) and water shall be specifically considered under the broadened ecodesign criteria;
Amendment 32 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2b. Highlights that the existing Ecolabel criteria could serve as a sound basis to incorporate resource conservation and circularity requirements in the ecodesign criteria; notes that this would be faster, safer and more cost-effective than developing, testing and implementing new criteria;
Amendment 35 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 c (new)
Paragraph 2 c (new)
2c. Calls for taking into account the historical improvement rate for setting new requirements when revising the sectorial and horizontal regulation;
Amendment 36 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Stresses the need to optimise and safeguard the decision-making process; emphasises that ecodesign measures should be adopted individually and within the deadlines; calls on the Commission to justify delays and to set aside the necessary resources for implementation; believes, in addition, that voluntary agreements should no longer be given priority; reiterates the paramount importance of ensuring full coherence with other sector-specific regulations, such as waste, water, health, hazardous substances, energy efficiency and environmental protection; stresses that adapting the Ecolabel criteria to the Ecodesign Directive would enhance and ensure policy coherence;
Amendment 42 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Insists on the need to optimise the market surveillance of products placed on the market through better cooperation between the Commission and the Member States, and among the Member States themselves, and to consider certification by an independent body (third-party certification); stresses that test protocols should be closer to real-life conditions; highlights the wide potential of fast screening methods in detecting the products and types of products that are more likely not to comply with the Ecodesign Directive;
Amendment 47 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Highlights the proven efficacy of combining dissuasive sanctions with measures affecting the brand reputation of a product in order to enhance compliance with legislation; calls on the Commission to further exploit this combination within the Ecodesign Directive, for example by communicating publicly the brand name of non-compliant manufacturers;
Amendment 53 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls for the development of structural funding so that the Union and Member States can ensure adequate monitoring of policy development, undertake market surveillance, consult at national level and design proactive communication strategies.
Amendment 55 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Reiterates the importance of preparing an independent testing programme under Horizon 2020 to identify issues related to possible planned obsolescence, as foreseen in the EU Action Plan for Circular Economy;
Amendment 58 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5b. Calls on the EU institutions and Member States to make full use of the green public procurement strategies (GPP) in order to privilege ecodesign products in all investments and to promote a widespread use of green procurement also in the private sector;
Amendment 60 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 c (new)
Paragraph 5 c (new)
5c. Takes the opportunity to reiterate to the Commission the urgent need for developing additional ecodesign directives covering non energy-related products, together with appropriate labelling criteria, in order to give clear guidance to EU industry and enable consumers to make well-informed choices in all sectors of the internal market;