As the first Ecodesign Implementing Measures have already entered into force, a flexible and quick development of the standards is essential, since the lack of harmonised measurement methods would endanger the achievement of the policy objectives. Therefore the European Commission has proposed several mandates to the European standardisation bodies CEN, CENELEC and ETSI. The aim is to set new or revised European harmonised standardised methods for assessing the energy and environmental performance of the products covered under the EuP Directive, taking into account the generally recognised state of the art.

Mandates for Standardisation:

- Standby and off modes power consumption measurement for energy using products.

The existing standard EN 62301 (Household electrical appliances – Measurement of standby power, 2008) is expected to cover the requirements of the EuP regulation. The aim of the second edition of the EN 62301 is to establish a measurement methodology for the calculation of the electric power consumption and a verification procedure for market surveillance purposes. The scope covers the electrical and electronic household and office equipment in standby and in off mode, or low power operating conditions with similar characteristics.

The EuP preparatory study states that standby and off-mode energy losses occur for the majority of electrical and electronic household and office equipment products sold in the EU. The annual electricity consumption related to these losses is about 47 TWh in 2005, equivalent to 19 Mt CO2 emissions. Without taking action, the consumption is predicted to increase to 49 TWh in 2020. The study declares that the electricity consumption can be significantly reduced taking specific energy efficient measures and applying cost-effective technologies.

The execution of the EC mandate, issued at the end of 2008, started in the first half of 2009. In order to cover the different types of appliances under the EuP Implementing Measure, a Joint Working Group (JWG) between the CENELEC Technical Committee 108X (‘Safety of electronic equipment within the fields of audio/video, information technology and communication technology’) and Technical Committee 59X (‘Consumers information related to household electrical appliances’) was set up. The standardisation work started in April 2009. In order to demonstrate the compliance of the equipment, one essential element is ensuring the maximum accuracy of the measurement methods. Therefore, the key aspect is to reduce the measurement uncertainly of the measurement devices and methodologies to a minimum.

ECOS has nominated an expert to follow the process and attend the JWG meetings to ensure that the standard meets the highest environmental requirements.

Draft mandates for Standardisation:

The rest of the EuP mandates are under development. ECOS has nominated different experts to follow the preparation process and to provide comments, ensuring that the content of the mandates takes into account the relevant environmental aspects. Once the mandates are issued and accepted by the Standardisation bodies, the ECOS experts will attend the meetings of the Technical Committees and will contribute to the development of the different standards.

So far the following draft mandates are under development:

- Household refrigerating appliances.

- Household washing machines.

- Electric Motors.

- Circulators.

- Pumps.

- Variable speed drives.

- Room air conditioning appliances, local air coolers and comfort fans.

- Solid fuel appliances.

In anticipation of the adoption of the Ecodesign Implementing Measures, the European Commission had issued a Mandate to CEN/CENELEC/ETSI for Programming of Standardisation Work in the Field of Eco-Design of Energy Using Products in 2005. The objective of this mandate was to draw up a comprehensive standardisation programme to help manufacturers comply with the requirements of the future Implementing Measures. Within CENELEC the Working Group 3 of TC 111X "EuP standardisation programme" deals with standardisation aspects of the EU Ecodesign Directive.