ESPR, the Battery Regulation, and the revised CPR — the deadlines that bind, and what non-compliance actually costs · Biblioteca de cumplimiento

Este artículo solo está disponible actualmente en inglés. El texto a continuación es la versión de referencia.

There are three regulations driving the Digital Product Passport in the EU: the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR — Regulation (EU) 2024/1781), the Battery Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2023/1542), and the revised Construction Products Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2024/3110). Each has its own application date, its own phased deadlines, and its own penalty regime. This article is the calendar of what binds when, with the regulation citation against each entry, and an honest read of what non-compliance actually costs.

It is not legal advice. Member States set the actual penalty amounts and they vary; where this article points to a fine, it points to the regulation’s framework, not to a specific euro figure.

The three regulations, in one sentence each

ESPR is a horizontal framework regulation. It sets the rules under which the Commission adopts product-group delegated acts that create binding ecodesign and DPP requirements. The DPP obligation for a given product group only kicks in when its delegated act is adopted and reaches its date of application.

The Battery Regulation is a sector-vertical regulation that applies on its own terms — no delegated acts needed for the battery passport itself. The schedule is in the regulation.

The revised CPR is a sector-vertical regulation for construction products. Its core obligations apply from 8 January 2026, but its construction Digital Product Passport obligation depends on a separate delegated act under Article 75(1) that has not yet been adopted.

The calendar

2024

17 August 2023 — Battery Regulation enters into force (Article 96(1), 20th day after OJ publication 28.7.2023).
18 February 2024 — Battery Regulation applies (Article 96(2)). Most operative provisions become live; specific articles have later phase-ins.
18 July 2024 — ESPR enters into force (Article 80, 20th day after OJ publication 28.6.2024). The framework is live; the DPP obligation for any specific product is not yet active anywhere.
18 August 2024 — Battery Regulation Chapter VI applies (Article 96(2)(b)) — the labelling and information chapter.

2025

18 February 2025 — Battery Regulation Article 7 carbon-footprint declaration deadline for Commission to adopt delegated acts on rechargeable industrial batteries (excluding external-storage).
19 April 2025 — first ESPR working plan required to be adopted by the Commission (Article 18(5)). The working plan lists priority product groups for delegated-act work.
19 July 2025 — earliest possible date for the first ESPR delegated act to enter into force (Article 4(7)). Until this date, no ESPR delegated act creates binding obligations.
19 July 2025 — first ESPR Article 24 implementing act on the format for unsold-product disclosure required to be adopted (Article 24(3)).
18 August 2025 — Battery Regulation penalty rules must be laid down by Member States and notified to the Commission (Article 93). National fine bands take effect from this point.
18 August 2025 — Battery Regulation Chapter VIII applies (Article 96(2)©).

2026

8 January 2026 — revised CPR applies (Article 96 of CPR 2024/3110). The Declaration of Performance and Conformity (DoPC) replaces the old DoP. Repeal of Regulation (EU) No 305/2011 takes effect (Article 94).
8 January 2026 — DoPC Annex II climate-change essential characteristics mandatory — points (a) to (d): total, fossil fuels, biogenic, and land-use-change effects (CPR Article 15(3)(a)).
19 July 2026 — EU Central Registry must be established by the Commission (ESPR Article 13(1)). Unique identifiers (and commodity codes for products entering free circulation) become uploadable.
19 July 2026 — ESPR unsold-product destruction ban applies (Article 25(1)). The ban covers apparel and footwear listed in Annex VII (CN heading 4203, CN chapters 61 and 62, headings 6504 and 6505, chapters 6401 to 6405). The ban does not apply to micro and small enterprises and only applies to medium-sized enterprises from 2030.
19 July 2026 — ESPR Article 24 disclosure obligation applies — same exemption pattern (micro/small exempt, medium-sized from 2030).
8 December 2026 — revised CPR penalty rules must be notified to the Commission by Member States (Article 92). National fine bands take effect from this point.

2027

8 January 2027 — revised CPR Article 92 (penalties) applies (CPR Article 96). National enforcement of the revised CPR effectively begins on this date.
18 February 2027 — Battery Passport mandatory (Article 77(1)). Each LMT battery, each industrial battery with capacity greater than 2 kWh, and each electric vehicle battery placed on the market or put into service must have an electronic record from this date.
18 February 2027 — QR code marking mandatory on all batteries (Article 13(6)) per Annex VI Part C.
18 February 2027 — Battery Regulation carbon footprint declaration deadline for LMT batteries (Commission delegated-act adoption window).

2028 and beyond

31 December 2028 — earliest date the Commission may adopt ESPR ecodesign requirements for cement (Article 18(6)), where CPR coverage of cement’s environmental and carbon footprint is judged inadequate.
18 February 2029 — Battery Regulation carbon footprint declaration deadline for industrial batteries with external storage.
1 January 2030 — latest date for the cement ESPR delegated act (Article 18(6)).
9 January 2030 — DoPC Annex II essential characteristics phase-2 mandatory — points (e) to (m): ozone depletion, acidification, three categories of eutrophication, photochemical ozone, abiotic depletion (minerals/metals and fossil fuels), water use (CPR Article 15(3)(b)).
19 July 2030 — ESPR unsold-product destruction ban applies to medium-sized enterprises (Article 25(1)). Same date for the Article 24 disclosure obligation.
9 January 2032 — DoPC Annex II essential characteristics phase-3 mandatory — points (n) to (s): particulate matter, ionising radiation, freshwater ecotoxicity, human toxicity (cancer and non-cancer), land-use related impacts (CPR Article 15(3)©).

What’s missing from this calendar

Sector-specific ESPR delegated acts — textile, electronics, furniture, tyres, detergents, paints, lubricants, chemicals, ICT, iron and steel, aluminium — do not yet have published application dates. The Article 75(1) delegated act under the revised CPR, which sets up the Construction Digital Product Passport System, is also not yet adopted. The DPP timeline for textile manufacturers and construction-product manufacturers therefore depends on these acts landing.

The runway, when each act lands, is set in the parent regulation:

ESPR delegated acts: at least 18 months between entry into force and date of application (Article 4(4)). Exceptions are narrow and must be justified.
Construction DPP: 18 months from entry into force of the Article 75(1) delegated act (CPR Article 22(7)).

So once a delegated act is published, an SME has at minimum 18 months. Tracking the OJ for delegated-act publications is the only way to convert these conditional deadlines into hard ones for your sector.

What non-compliance actually costs

Three things, in order of severity for an SME.

The product cannot be lawfully placed on the EU market. Article 9(1) of ESPR is unambiguous: a product covered by a delegated act “can only be placed on the market or put into service if a digital product passport is available.” The same logic runs through CPR Article 13(2) (no DoPC, no market access) and Battery Regulation Article 13(6) (QR code marking is mandatory from the application date). This is not a fine. It is exclusion. For an SME with a single product line and EU customers, this is the most serious sanction in the regulation.

Member-State fines. All three regulations delegate fine-setting to Member States with the same statutory test: “effective, proportionate and dissuasive.” ESPR Article 74, Battery Regulation Article 93, and revised CPR Article 92 all use the formula. None of the three regulations sets numeric ceilings. So the fine band that applies to your business is whatever the relevant Member State has transposed into national law. ESPR Article 74(2) lists the severity factors a Member State must give regard to, including the nature, gravity, and duration of the infringement, intent or negligence, the financial situation of the operator, the economic benefits derived from the infringement, the environmental damage caused, mitigation actions taken, and whether the infringement is repetitive.

Time-limited exclusion from public procurement. ESPR Article 74(3) explicitly authorises Member States to impose “time-limited exclusion from public procurement procedures” as a penalty. For construction-product SMEs and others whose order book depends on public-sector contracts, this can be more serious than a fine. The exclusion period is set in national law.

The Battery Regulation and the revised CPR do not separately authorise procurement exclusion in the same explicit terms, but Member States routinely link compliance failures to procurement-eligibility regimes through general public-procurement law.

What an SME should actually do this quarter

Three steps in order:

Identify which calendar entries above bind your business. If you make textiles, the binding entries are the ESPR working-plan textile slot (delegated act not yet adopted) and the unsold-product rules (where size matters). If you make construction products, the binding entries are 8 January 2026 (DoPC live now), the phased Annex II characteristics, and the construction DPP delegated act when it lands. If you make batteries, 18 February 2027 binds you directly.
Identify your relevant Member State’s penalty regime. ESPR penalties are due to be transposed; revised CPR penalties must be notified by 8 December 2026; Battery Regulation penalties were due to be in place by 18 August 2025. Your competent national authority is the source of record for the actual fine bands. Trade associations track this faster than Member State portals do.
Decide your DPP service provider before the clock starts. The back-up obligation under ESPR Article 10(4) and the equivalent provisions in the CPR and Battery Regulation are not procurement quick-fixes. The provider must remain available for at least the expected lifetime of every product you ship — meaningfully longer for the Battery Regulation (passport ceases only at recycling) and the construction DPP (25-year system accessibility under CPR Article 75(2)(i)). This is a multi-year commitment, not a software trial.