EU Voluntary Instruments

EU Eco-label

SMEs are the main driving force behind the EU eco-label. 80% of all businesses that have been awarded an eco-label are SMEs. UEAPME is the official representative of SMEs within the Community eco-label award scheme and was a major contributor tothe last, more SME-friendly, revision of the scheme, in addition to its recent successes.     

UEAPME fully supports the scheme, which it sees as a market and image opportunity for SMEs. UEAPME's future efforts will focus on:

• ensuring that more criteria are developed for products manufactured by SMEs and services; and
• looking into methods of reducing the amount of red tape and costs associated with the scheme.

ECO-LABEL and SMEs

The Eco-Label is one of the very few voluntary instruments of the European Union's environmental policy. The aim of the European Eco-Label is to certify that products and services are particularly environmentally-friendly through compliance with a set of criteria approved at European level. The logo shown above is displayed on products awarded the European Eco-Label, so that they can be immediately recognised in all EU member states.

A few good reasons why an SME should decide to apply for the European Eco-Label:

• The European Eco-Label guarantees that products and services respect and take care of our environment. It is, therefore, one of the best official tools for businesses who want to have a "green" image.
• The European Eco-Label is a powerful marketing tool for SMEs operating in the Internal Market, since it can be used and recognised throughout the European Union and the European Economic Area.

The Eco-Label was created in 1992 and has since been revised, in the year 2000 (EC Regulation N° 1980/2000). UEAPME succeeded in getting the inclusion of a number of specific advantages for SMEs in the new Eco-Label scheme, which are aimed at increasing the participation of SMEs, notably:

• A minimum and maximum application fee of 300 and 1300 Euros respectively were fixed. For SMEs this application fee is reduced by 25%.
• A minimum and maximum annual fee of 500 and 25.000 Euros respectively per product group per applicant were fixed. For SMEs this annual fee is reduced by 25%.
• A further reduction of 15% for the annual fee of companies that have an EMAS registration and/or an EN ISO 14.000 certification.

With regard to the "Cost of testing and verification " (Annex V) the new Regulation states: "In drawing up the assessment and regulation requirements, the objective of keeping costs to a strict minimum must be observed. This is particularly important in order to facilitate the participation of SMEs in the Community Eco-Label system and thus contribute to the wider dissemination of the system".

For more details please check the following documents:

• REGULATION (EC)No 1980/2000 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 17 July 2000
  on a revised Community eco-label award scheme
  (FR, EN, DE, NL, ES, PT, SV, FI, DA, IT, and EL)

• COMMISSION DECISION of 10 November 2000
  establishing the application and annual fees of the Community Eco-label
  (notified under document number C(2000)3279) (Text with EEA relevance)
  (FR, EN, DE, NL, ES, PT, SV, FI, DA, IT, and EL)

• COMMISSION DECISION of 22 of May 2003
  amending Decision 2000/728/EC establishing the application and annual fees of the Community eco-label (notified under document number C(2003) 1780)
  (FR, EN, DE, NL, ES, PT, SV, FI, DA, IT, and EL)
  
  

2nd ECO-LABEL WORKING PLAN

The new Eco-label working plan for the period 2005-2007 has been adopted. The overall objective of the plan is to contribute towards making the eco-label a more successful and effective instrument, as well as supporting the current on-going evaluation of the Eco-label Scheme and the upcoming revision of the Regulation.
It sets out the strategy for the development of the scheme by building on the experience gained during the implementation of the previous plan. In particular it:

• Identifies objectives for environmental improvement and market penetration;
• Includes a non-exhaustive list of product groups which should be considered as priorities for Community action; and
• Plans for co-ordination and co-operation between the Community scheme and the various eco-label award schemes in Member States.

The working plan acknowledges the difficulties SMEs face in preparing a successful application and proposes to develop a strategy and actions for setting up eco-label support networks for SMEs.

Click here to download the Working Plan (published on the Official Journal N° L162/78 of 14 June 2006):
CS, DA, DE, EL, EN, ES, ET, FI, FR, HU, IT, LT, LV, NL, PL, PT, SK, SL, SV

REVISION OF THE ECO-LABEL REGULATION

The procedure to revise the EC Regulation No. 1980/2000 on the EU Eco-Label has started in Spring 2006 when the European Commission, DG Environment, published a first discussion paper.

Please download UEAPME's opinion on this document:

• UEAPME’s comments on the Discussion Paper presented by DG Environment on the revision of the European Eco-label scheme

UEAPME and the ECO-LABEL

UEAPME has been and is currently involved in the European Eco-Label scheme in the following ways:

First of all, UEAPME was part of the committee set up by the European Commission to revise the first European Eco-label Regulation. This participation resulted in the allowances for SMEs mentioned above.

Secondly, with the revised Regulation, UEAPME has been given the important task of representing SMEs and Craft as full member in the two bodies set up at European level in the framework of the European Eco-Label scheme i.e. the European Union Eco-Labelling Board (EUEB) and the Consultative Forum.

The Consultative Forum is the venue where groups and sectors (SMEs and craft, industry, commerce, trade unions, environmental organisations, consumer organisations, etc.) interested in the Eco-Label meet, exchange views and are consulted by the European Commission and the national competent bodies on issues related to the European Eco-Label.

The European Union Eco-Labelling Board is composed of the national competent bodies (which are responsible for managing the implementation of the European Eco-Label in the 25 Member States of the European Union) and of the Consultative Forum. The European Union Eco-Labelling Board ensures the co-ordination and coherence of the Eco-Label at European level.

UEAPME also participates in the policy and marketing management group set up in the framework of the eco-label working plan. The policy management group concentrates on the long-term policy and strategy of the scheme and contributes to the integration of the eco-label scheme into various policies related to sustainable consumption.

The marketing management group coordinates marketing and promotional efforts.

The cooperation and coordination management group focuses on coordinating the Community eco-label and similar schemes already in place in Member States.

For more details please check the following documents:

• COMMISSION DECISION of 10 November 2000
  establishing the European Union Eco-labelling Board and its rules of procedure
  (notified under document number C(2000)3280) (Text with EEA relevance)
  (FR, EN, DE, NL, ES, PT, SV, FI, DA, IT, and EL)

• COMMISSION DECISION of 10 November 2000
  establishing the rules of procedure of the Consultation Forum of the revised CommunityEco-label Scheme
  (notified under document number C(2000)3281) (Text with EEA relevance)
  (FR, EN, DE, NL, ES, PT, SV, FI, DA, IT, and EL)

UEAPME also appoints experts in the technical working groups responsible for drafting the criteria for the different product groups which have been considered important for the European Eco-Label. These experts are proposed to UEAPME by its member organisations. Their task is to make the criteria more compatible with the features of SMEs.

So far UEAPME has appointed the following experts for the following Eco-Label working groups (by clicking on the working group you can find UEAPME's position paper and the final criteria when they are adopted):

Event for the 10 years of Eco-label

On 2nd December 2002, the European Commission organised a special event to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Eco-label. To read more click here.

To know more….

If you want to have more detailed information on the European Eco-Labels, its aims, its current and future product groups, as well as the list of the national competent bodies, please check the following web-site: the Eu Eco-label Home page

Position Papers

• June 2008: Joint cross-industry paper: European ecolabel scheme threatened by failure to take account of scientific assessment

• April 2005: UEAPME's comments on the draft Eco-Label Working Plan 2005-2007

• March 2004: Summary of the Commission's Communication on Integrated Product Policy (COM (2003) 302 final) and its links with EMAS and the EU Eco-label

Press releases

• 12/10/04: UEAPME asks Commission to further efforts to include service sector in Ecolabel scheme
  
  
• 03/12/02 : 10 years Eco-Label: UEAPME satisfied with system says improvements still needed

Projects & Links

• Eco-label project for tourist accomodation