EU DPP Registry: How Does It Actually Work?

Understand the DPP architecture

The DPP architecture rests on two things: what the passport has to contain, and what the Registry does with it once it's live.

A Digital Product Passport ties together four elements: the product (at model, batch or item level), a data carrier that encodes a unique identifier (QR code, NFC or RFID), the DPP data itself (durability, repair, recycling), and the readers authorised to access it: consumers, repairers, authorities. The example given during the webinar: scanning the QR code on an electric-vehicle battery returns its composition, its state of health and its recycling instructions.

Eight European standards, developed by the CEN/CENELEC JTC 24 committee, define the technical "how": unique identifiers, data carriers, data exchange, storage and persistence, APIs, interoperability, access rights and security, authenticity and integrity. Six are published European standards as of 27 May 2026; the last two remain Final Drafts, under formal vote. What they require, in substance: an identifier that survives its issuer's bankruptcy, data stored in a decentralised way with mandatory back-up (a battery passport stays accessible for as long as the battery lives, and the registry record itself defaults to a 10-year retention), and integrity anyone can verify free of charge.

Data carriers also have to survive the product, not just the point of sale: "we work with a player in home appliances, like a fridge, which lasts 10 or 15 years," Delecroix said during the webinar. "If you print a QR code label, it has to last 15 years, otherwise you'll have issues."

The calendar you need to know

Only the 18 February 2027 deadline is firm at this stage; everything else follows a calendar of delegated acts still being adopted.