Usually sold with electrical and electronic goods, external power supply units are placed on the market in large quantities. Commission regulation no. 278/2009 sets out new requirements regarding the environmentally-friendly design of external power supply units.

From April 27, 2010 onwards, only devices that meet the power consumption requirements specified in the regulation may be brought into circulation in the EU.

From July next year, domestic refrigerators that do not meet the minimum requirements of the first stage of Regulation (EC) No 643/2009 may no longer be marketed in Europe. The Regulation was passed as an implementing measure of the Ecodesign Directive (2005/32/EC) and contains additional stages that increase the requirements regarding the energy efficiency of refrigerators incrementally up to 2015.

In a study commissioned by the EU Commission in preparation for the regulation, refrigerators were identified as key consumers of electricity in the EU. In 2006, 99 percent of households in Europe were equipped with refrigerators and 54 percent with freezers. Specific figures regarding consumption are cited in the Regulation itself: according to this, the annual, EU-wide electricity consumption in 2005 of the products under analysis was some 122 TWh, which equates to emissions of 56 million tons of CO2 equivalents.

The article is available online as well as up-to-date information about the status of guidelines for specific product groups, including definite release dates.

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