What Is the ESPR? Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 Explained

ESPR: the one-sentence definition

The ESPR (Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation), officially Regulation (EU) 2024/1781, is the EU's ecodesign regulation for sustainable products. In force since 18 July 2024, it replaces the 2009 Ecodesign Directive and introduces its flagship obligation: the Digital Product Passport, required for nearly every product sold in the European Union.

What changes compared with the old directive

The previous Ecodesign Directive (2009/125/EC) only covered energy-related products: appliances, heating, lighting. The ESPR scales up on three fronts:

• •Scope: almost all physical products are covered — textiles, furniture, steel, chemicals, electronics… Only food, medicines and a few categories fall outside the text
• •Requirements: beyond energy efficiency, the ESPR addresses durability, repairability, recycled content, carbon and environmental footprint
• •Instrument: it is a regulation, directly applicable in every Member State with no national transposition

The three pillars of the ESPR

1. The Digital Product Passport

Every covered product will carry a digital passport accessible via QR code, documenting its identity, composition and circularity. For businesses, this is the most structural pillar — and the one Arianee has operated for eight years, with more than 3.4 million passports in production for some fifty brands.

2. Ecodesign performance requirements

Performance criteria (minimum durability, repairability, recycled content) will be set product by product. A product that fails them can no longer be placed on the EU market.

3. The ban on destroying unsold goods

The ESPR bans the destruction of unsold textiles and footwear (with SME exemptions) and requires large companies to disclose the volumes of unsold goods they destroy.

How delegated acts work

The regulation is a framework: it does not itself set product-specific requirements. The European Commission adopts sector delegated acts that define, category by category, the passport data and ecodesign criteria. The first working plan (April 2025) prioritises:

Each delegated act then gives companies roughly 18 months to comply. To absorb these successive waves of requirements, Arianee's Compliance Engine validates every passport against its category's regulatory schema (ESPR, Battery Pass, WEEE) before publication. The methodology used to define data requirements is analysed in our breakdown of report JRC145830.

Who is affected, and when?

Any economic operator placing a covered product on the EU market: European manufacturers, importers, and international brands selling into Europe. The first firm deadlines:

• •February 2027: the battery passport (separate regulation, same logic)
• •July 2026: launch of the EU DPP registry
• •2027–2028: first sector ESPR obligations (steel, textiles…)

What to do now

1. 01.Locate your product categories in the ESPR working plan
2. 02.Track your sector's delegated acts (our ESPR page keeps the timeline up to date)
3. 03.Start the data audit: composition, suppliers, footprint — the longest workstream by far
4. 04.Evaluate DPP infrastructures — see our complete ESPR & DPP guide

Arianee supports brands across the full ESPR compliance journey. Request a demo.