#CleanEnergy transition: New clearer energy efficiency labels to simplify, bring more choice and savings for EU consumers

To make energy labels more understandable for consumers and help them make better informed purchasing choices, the Commission adopted today new energy efficiency labels covering dishwashers, washing machines and washer-driers, refrigerators, lamps, electronic displays including televisions, and refrigerating appliances with a direct sales function. 

"Energy efficiency first" is a central principle of the Energy Union strategy. It is an effective way to cut emissions, bring savings to consumers and reduce the EU's fossil fuel import dependency. Since its introduction twenty years ago, the success of energy labelling has encouraged the development of ever more energy efficient products. This has resulted in the current label system becoming too complex. In 2017, the EU agreed clearer energy efficiency labelling rules, by moving from thecurrent A+++ to G scale to an A to G energyscale, which is simpler and better understood by consumers.

A product showing an A+++ energy efficiency class could for example become a B class after rescaling, without any change in its energy consumption. This will allow the top classes to have room for more energy efficient models. These new labels will be visible for European consumers in physical stores and on-line as of March 1^st 2021.

For more information: see DG Energy website and the MEMO.

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