The European Commission’s apparent decision to accept non-binding industry ecodesign...

committee for a voluntary agreement on complex set-top boxes under the ecodesign directive, EC Energy Director-General Philip Lowe noted that the industry self-regulatory plan is the first under the law and will set a template and benchmark for future proposals. An EC impact assessment showed that a voluntary agreement “is a viable alternative to regulation” in the short- and mid-term, he wrote. But the study also found that, for industry to realize the full energy-saving potential, it must agree on “more ambitious future targets,” he said. The Energy Directorate General is now “in a position to propose to the Commission a decision on the formal endorsement” of the voluntary agreement, he said. An estimated 80 percent of the environmental impacts of products are determined during their design phase, BEUC and ANEC said. The ecodesign directive aims to improve the environmental performance of energy-related products by integrating environmental criteria at an early design stage, they said. TV set-top boxes are among the worst offenders for energy consumption and their performance should be regulated, they said. If the EC approves the industry agreement it will be the first time that ecodesign requirements aren’t legislated and it could set a precedent for self-regulation, they said. Even more alarming is the fact that the EC accepts the pact while acknowledging its lack of energy-saving ambition, the consumer groups said. BEUC Director General Monique Goyens said she’s skeptical that green targets provided unilaterally by manufacturers will achieve the same results as binding legislation. The auto industry didn’t deliver on promises to reduce CO2 emissions and preliminary talks among TV decoder makers already “show a lamentable lack of ambition as they are considering excluding even the possibility for consumers to switch off these devices,” she said. ANEC’s concerned that not all set-top boxes will be ecodesigned and that the environmental requirements won’t be enforced by public authorities, Secretary-General Stephen Russell added.