Understand the European rules, sector texts and product families to monitor, without confusing an indicative timeline with an applicable obligation.
Updated on 2 July 2026.
The Digital Product Passport is not defined by a single source. The regulation sets the principle, then texts, methods and standards make it applicable by sector.
ESPR means Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation: it is the European regulation setting the framework, information duties and passport logic.
They will specify requirements by product family, expected data and access levels.
The JRC, the Commission's Joint Research Centre, and CEN-CENELEC, the European standardisation bodies, structure data methods and interoperability standards.
Each company then applies the relevant text to its products, data carriers and data flows.
Each vertical brings different evidence: composition, origin, repairability, marking, traceability or supplier documents.
Dated obligationThe battery passport is planned for 18 February 2027 for light means of transport batteries, industrial batteries above 2 kWh and electric vehicle batteries.
Verify in-scope categories, product model and already available data.
2027 ESPR priorityThe ESPR working plan targets textiles and apparel. Footwear is subject to a dedicated study to be completed by the end of 2027 and should be monitored separately.
Audit materials, composition, origin, supplier evidence and customer-facing information.
Priority intermediate productsThese materials are ESPR priorities because they structure many industrial value chains and downstream products.
Identify material sheets, batches, suppliers, origin evidence and links with components.
Horizontal measures to monitorThe ESPR plan includes energy-related products and horizontal measures. ICT means information and communication technologies, a perimeter to monitor for connected products.
Prepare repairability, spare parts, technical documentation and end-of-life data.
Separate packaging frameworkThe European Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, often called PPWR, follows a separate calendar. It can still create data, marking, sorting and QR Code needs.
Separate packaging obligations from the product passport and isolate useful data.
Indicative 2027-2029 adoptionThe ESPR working plan lists these families in upcoming delegated-act cycles, with detailed requirements still to be specified.
Monitor sector acts and prepare durability, repairability, composition and material data.
Useful milestones to track published texts, upcoming deadlines and the product verticals to prepare first.
The regulation establishes the European framework for ecodesign requirements, product information and the Digital Product Passport.
The Commission publishes 2025-2030 priorities: iron and steel, aluminium, textiles and apparel, furniture, tyres, mattresses, energy-related products and horizontal measures.
The Construction Products Regulation becomes broadly applicable and the CPR 2026-2029 working plan organises work by families: concrete, mortars, aggregates, masonry, facades, floorings, construction kits or prefabricated elements. The construction DPP will then depend on a delegated act and the relevant harmonised specifications.
The regulation provides for a Digital Product Passport registry storing at least unique identifiers. Operational details should still be monitored.
The European Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation generally applies from this date, with possible impacts on marking, sorting, material evidence and information to keep.
The ESPR working plan indicates indicative adoption in 2026 for iron and steel. Energy-related products follow several adoption waves from 2026 to the end of 2030 depending on product family. These dates refer to ESPR acts to monitor, not an operational DPP application date.
LMT, industrial above 2 kWh and electric vehicle batteries placed on the market or put into service will need an electronic record.
The ESPR plan indicates targeted adoption for textiles and apparel. Material, origin, repairability and supplier evidence data become priority preparation work.
These families are part of the next ESPR priorities. Manufacturers can already isolate composition, batches, material origin and technical documentation.
The plan mentions a specific study for footwear and cross-cutting requirements such as repairability. Final choices should be monitored through delegated acts.
Furniture and furnishing products are among the indicative ESPR priorities, with targeted adoption in 2028. A mid-term review should also help adjust priorities before the end of the 2025-2030 cycle.
The plan mentions mattresses and a horizontal measure on recycled content and recyclability of electrical and electronic equipment. Some ICT products remain tracked within energy-related products.
Energy-related products and horizontal measures should continue to take shape. Applicable dates will depend on the texts adopted for each family.
The PPWR aims for packaging to be recyclable in an economically viable way by 2030 and strengthens recycled-content, reuse and waste-reduction requirements. This milestone remains separate from the product DPP, but it structures the packaging data to prepare.
The 2025-2030 plan is designed to bring together product requirements, data, access carriers and interoperability for priority families.
