Battery Regulation: adopted by European Parliament

After reaching an agreement during the trilogue negotiations with the Council late last year, the European Parliament has adopted new rules for the design, manufacture, and recycling of all types of batteries circulating in the EU.

The MEPs approved the agreement with 587 votes in favour, 9 against and 20 abstentions.

The new rules cover the entire life cycle of batteries, from design to end-of-life. Key features include the “Battery Passport” and the carbon footprint declaration which will lead to greater levels of transparency. Furthermore, producers will be required to implement due diligence policies to address the potentially negative impacts of sourcing, processing, and trading (secondary) raw materials.

Further measures aim at increasing the circularity of batteries by defining collection, recovery, or recycled content targets which will become increasingly strict over the next decade.

Following the Parliament’s vote, the Council must formally endorse the text before it can be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and enter into force. The Regulation will replace the current Batteries Directive of 2006.