EU Parliament Advocates for Expansion of Digital Passport to All Consumer Goods

The European Parliament advocates enriching legislation on circular economy and digital transition. According to the latest report adopted in plenary this Tuesday, the body urges to promote sustainable business models and consumption patterns, extending the use of the digital passport on all products on the market.

The report, where the body presents its recommendations for the next revision of the new legislative framework, has been approved by 505 votes in favor, 62 against and 47 abstentions, according to a statement.

The text highlights the digital passport as a necessary tool to “simplify information requirements, improve transparency and traceability, and increase market coherence”. Therefore, MEPs have urged to also include second-hand products.

At the same time, the Parliament has asked the European Commission to address the risks of the business model of fast and ultra-fast fashion, because of its environmental impact, but has pointed out that this monitoring cannot involve “unnecessary administrative burdens for responsible companies and products that comply with the regulations”.

In this sense, in the summer, France became a reference in terms of the regulation of this type of business, with the approval in the Senate of the Anti-Shein Law, with the aim of preserving the stability of national companies.

The European Parliament calls on the Commission to address the risks of the fast fashion business model

Moreover, the Parliament calls for the implementation of greater coordination between national authorities and the European Union and, in this regard, is committed to the creation of a Union Market Surveillance Authority. The updating of the legislative framework is in process, but has not yet been fully implemented.

Last summer, the European Union approved a new Ecodesign Regulation for Sustainable Products (Espr) that directly affected fashion. The key player was the Digital Product Passport.

However, this text comes days after the European Parliament reached a position agreement with the European People’s Party and the Party of European Socialists on a second Omnibus package with a direct impact on the sustainable reporting standard, which reduces its scope of application.

As approved, the Directive on Corporate Sustainability Reporting will only apply to companies with 5,000 or more employees and a minimum turnover of €1.5 billion. In its initial text, the regulation included companies with more than 1,000 employees and a turnover of more than €450 million.

The law was due to come into force in 2027, after the European Parliament had already approved a postponement of the law’s application dates in April. The rule then got a two-year extension, while the other affected directive, known as Due Diligence, was extended by one year in its application.

At the end of June, the European Commission also announced that it was withdrawing its legislative proposal aimed at combating the possibility of companies making misleading claims about the environmental qualities of their products.