Earlier this summer, the European Parliament (EP) voted to roll back some concerning amendments that had been included in the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (AKA the New EcodesignRegulation). On 12 July, the European Parliament voted on its final position of the regulation, and while the removal of the amendments is permanent, some last-minute compromise amendments were added to the final positions that have been included in the final text.

Compromise amendments and developer impact

Amendment

Impact

Article 5a (new) and its relative Recital 5a (new), an obligation to prevent premature obsolescence of products, both hardware and software, caused by “non-provision of software updates or accessories within an appropriate period of time”.

We recognise the concerns regarding timely software updates as laid out by the European Parliament. However, the phrase “not providing a software update within an appropriate period” is vague and inconsistent. Producing updates is a complex process, encompassing development, testing, and eventual market release. These updates not only prevent devices from becoming obsolete prematurely but also ensure device functionality, security, and optimal user experience. Crafting these updates demand significant time and resources, making it challenging to predict exact release dates. While timely updates are essential, the current guidelines seem more tailored to hardware than software, making them challenging for software providers to meet.

Article 7 paragraph 2 – point b – sub-point iia(new), an obligation to inform about alternative operating systems (Article 7.2-point (b) of the European Parliament Final Draft Report).

The European Parliament’s Final Draft Report (Article 7.2-point (b)) mandates sharing information about alternative operating systems. However, this seems to promote their use without weighing the risks involved, especially during software updates. Such practices could compromise security, functionality, and even durability. We believe this addition might be beyond the regulation’s intended scope.

ACT | The App Association is proudly and historically pro–green tech, but we are concerned some software provisions in this regulation could potentially complicate things for software developers. We urge policymakers to weigh both environmental and digital goals in a balanced manner and are hopeful that the European Parliament’s Regulation will be fine-tuned and linguistically adjusted by regulators during the inter-institutional negotiations. This would make the New Ecodesign Regulation clearer for our small and medium-sized business members and app developers who are keen to succeed in Europe’s digital space.

What happens next?

It is important to note that these amendments made by the EP have not been taken into consideration by the initial legislative proposal of the European Commission nor by the Council’s final position (also called “general approach”). With the Council and EP now adopting their respective positions, the next step will be for the two bodies to start rounds of institutional negotiations with the Commission acting as mediator between the two. The first meeting will likely take place over the next couple of weeks, with a second meeting expected in September after the summer break. We will keep you updated on this regulation as the trialogues continue.