[CHRONICLE] A digital passport for luxury products: heading towards responsible consumption in Europe

A European digital product passport (DPP) project is currently being studied to guarantee the traceability, transparency and authenticity of products marketed within the 27 member countries. Nathalie Moullé-Berteaux, partner at Cabinet HERALD (formerly Granrut), discusses the impact of such a project on the luxury goods industry.

Opening remarks: It was a December 7, 2023 interview with Frédéric Montagnon (co-founder of Arianee) for LUXUS PLUS that inspired me to find out more about the Digital Product Passport (“DPP”): firstly, to understand its raison d’être, and with it the role of European bodies at the heart of current electoral events (I), and finally, to analyze its impact on the luxury brands to which I have devoted most of my professional career in the field of intellectual property law (II).

The origins of the DPP

The Green Pact: presented by the European Commission on December 11, 2019, approved by a large majority by the European Parliament on January 15, 2020, it has a budget of 503 billion euros in investments and aims to significantly transform the European Union’s economy to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Ursula von der Leyen, head of the European executive since 2019, has defined the Green Deal as the EU’s new growth strategy and made it the number one priority of her mandate, requiring all European actions and policies to contribute to achieving its goals.

Alignment with the objective of climate neutrality is enshrined in the European Climate Act (1), which establishes a Scientific Advisory Board of experts to assess the conformity of all European legislative proposals with the objectives of the 2015 Paris Agreement (2) and the EU’s environmental strategy.

In this context, on March 30, 2022, the European Commission put forward a series of legislative proposals aimed at promoting sustainability, the circular economy and the energy efficiency of products throughout their life cycle. Among these proposals from the European Commission was the proposed ESPR Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (3). Its pillar is the digital certificate, giving rise to the digital product passport (or “DPP”), which aims to guarantee traceability, transparency and authenticity.

The ESPR regulation was adopted on April 23, 2024 by the European Parliament and on May 27 by the Council. It makes the placing on the EU market of all products covered by the ESPR Regulation subject to the existence of a PDD. The list has not yet been finalized by the Commission, but already covers four priority sectors: batteries, textiles, electronics and construction. In the clothing sector, deployment of the digital product passport is scheduled for 2026.

What impact will this have on luxury brands?

Read also > [INTERVIEW] FRÉDÉRIC MONTAGNON (ARIANEE): “THE REAPPROPRIATION OF PERSONAL DATA BY THE CUSTOMER IS THE REAL BREAKTHROUGH”

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