What is a delegated act and why does it determine what I must do?
A delegated act specifies the ESPR in concrete terms
A delegated act is a supplementary rule that the European Commission establishes to further develop an existing regulation, without the European Parliament and the Council having to go through the entire legislative procedure again. For the digital product passport this is relevant because the ESPR (Regulation (EU) 2024/1781) is itself a framework regulation: it describes the system, the powers and the general obligations, but leaves the concrete requirements per product category to delegated acts. Article 4 of the ESPR gives the Commission the power to establish those acts, and article 8 of the ESPR describes what must be included in them: among other things, the requirements for performance, information, and the product passport itself. For a product category such as aluminium semi-finished products, this means that the ESPR sets the framework, but it is only with a delegated act for aluminium that it becomes clear which requirements will apply in concrete terms.
For product categories, not for the entire regulation
A delegated act always applies to one or more specific product categories, not to the ESPR as a whole. For aluminium profiles, castings and packaging aluminium, this means that the general provisions of the ESPR — such as the design of the digital product passport and the register — are already established, but that the product-specific requirements (which data exactly, which thresholds, which entry into force date for this product category) only apply once a delegated act for aluminium has been established and has entered into force. This does not apply to product categories for which a delegated act already exists; those follow their own, already established timeline. Nor does it apply to matters that the ESPR itself already regulates directly, without requiring a delegated act for that purpose — those obligations are separate from this process and from this page.
No established date yet for aluminium
No delegated act for aluminium semi-finished products has yet been established, and therefore there is no date on which the product-specific requirements enter into force. Article 18 of the ESPR requires the Commission to draw up a work plan in which it determines which product categories are given priority and in which order they are to be developed. As long as no delegated act for aluminium has been published, no product-specific ecodesign or information requirements based on the ESPR apply to this product category. As soon as the Commission publishes a draft and later establishes the final text, it becomes clear at that point from which date the requirements will apply and what transitional periods apply to them. This page will be updated once that text is available.
What to do while the text is missing
Anyone working with aluminium semi-finished products now can follow when the Commission publishes a draft for this product category; this usually happens first as a consultation before the final text follows. Once a draft or final text is available, it is useful to look at the two components that article 8 of the ESPR prescribes: what performance requirements are set (for example on recycled content or sustainability) and what information requirements apply to the product passport (which data, in what format, accessible to whom). Only when that text is available can it be indicated which data exactly must be collected and from when. Until then, it is possible to map out where your own product data comes from — composition, origin, recycling content — so that this information does not have to be collected again from scratch later.
The legal basis: article 4, 8 and 18 ESPR
The Commission's authority to adopt delegated acts is set out in Article 4 of the ESPR. What such an act must regulate in substantive terms — the ecodesign requirements and information requirements, including the product passport — is set out in Article 8 of the ESPR. The way in which the Commission determines which product groups are to be addressed and when is set out in Article 18 of the ESPR, which provides for a work plan with prioritisation. Together, these articles explain why the ESPR itself sets the framework, but the actual obligations for a specific product group only arise with a separate, later act.
Anyone wishing to know whether and when a delegated act for aluminium has been published can keep an eye on this page or consult the official ESPR text on EUR-Lex; starting now to organise your own product data costs no time lost, regardless of the precise implementation date that will follow later.
What this is based on
- Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 (ESPR), Article 4 (powers to adopt delegated acts) and Article 8 (content of delegated acts)
- Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 (ESPR), Article 18 (prioritisation and planning)
The regulation itself is on EUR-Lex. We refer per statement; you do not have to take our word for it.
What you must concretely do
What is expected of you
The ESPR (Regulation (EU) 2024/1781) is the framework law. It establishes that a digital product passport will be created, who is responsible for it and which topics must be covered. However, the ESPR itself does not yet state for which product groups that passport will be mandatory, which data must be included in it, and from when. This will be worked out per product group in a delegated act — a separate, legally binding regulation that the European Commission adopts on the basis of the power given to it by Article 4 of the ESPR.
For a company, this concretely means that the ESPR itself is never the source in which to find what must be included in a passport for aluminium semi-fabricates. That information comes in the delegated act for the product group under which profiles, castings or packaging aluminium falls. As long as that act is not published, there is no obligation — but its preparation is underway, and the ESPR already describes what such an act will have to regulate.
Understanding that the ESPR is a framework, not a work instruction
A company that consults the ESPR to see what is expected of it will not find a product list and no data fields list there. Article 8 of the ESPR (Regulation (EU) 2024/1781) lists which topics a delegated act must address — think of sustainability requirements, information obligations and the requirements for the passport itself — but the details per product group follow later. Practically, this means that a company of 10 to 100 employees can read the ESPR as the source of the rules, and the delegated act as the source of the actual obligation. Whoever wants to know now what must be included in the product passport for aluminium, encounters a gap that will only be filled once the act is in place.
Monitor when your own product group is scheduled
Article 18 of the ESPR (Regulation (EU) 2024/1781) describes how the Commission prioritises which product groups receive a delegated act first. Not every product group is dealt with simultaneously; a work plan is used in which some sectors are addressed earlier than others. For a company, this means that monitoring which product group receives priority is more practically relevant than reading the ESPR as a whole. Aluminium semi-fabricates are not yet included in a published delegated act; the work plan mentions an expectation, not a fixed date. Whoever wants to know when the product passport becomes mandatory for aluminium, reads there why that date is deliberately presented as an expectation and not as a fact.
Distinguish between "the ESPR applies" and "the obligation already applies"
A common misconception is that the ESPR as a regulation already works directly, as a regulation normally does. This is correct for the provisions that are based on the regulation itself, but the concrete product obligation — which passport, which data, from when — only arises with the delegated act. For a company, this means that "the ESPR has entered into force" does not mean "I must now have a passport". That distinction is precisely why the question which products from the aluminium sector fall under the ESPR may have a different answer than the question of whether an obligation already applies.
Where things go wrong in practice
A buyer reads that the ESPR has been adopted and concludes that there "must therefore" already be a passport — while the delegated act for aluminium has not yet been published.
An export department reassures a customer with a date they saw in a news article, without mentioning that this is an expectation from the work plan and not an established date from a published act.
A quality manager searches the ESPR itself for a list of mandatory data fields for aluminium profiles, finds nothing concrete, and wrongly concludes that there is no need to prepare anything for now.
A supplier team assumes that all product groups under the ESPR will receive a delegated act simultaneously, and therefore plans its own preparation too late or too early relative to the actual work plan.
A company confuses the delegated act with an implementing act or national law, and therefore searches for the obligation in the wrong place — for example in Dutch regulations instead of in EU law.
What you can document now
- An internal note explaining the distinction between the ESPR as a framework and the delegated act as a concrete obligation, so that not every department has to figure this out again.
- A fixed control moment (for example every quarter) when someone checks whether a delegated act for the company's own product group has been published or has been subject to consultation.
- An overview of the company's own product group — profiles, castings or packaging — with a reference to the pages that describe whether the product passport for your own aluminium applies and whether that depends on primary or secondary material.
- A log of the sources consulted (date, version, link to EUR-Lex), so that it can later be demonstrated when which information was known.
- A template for communication to customers and suppliers that clearly distinguishes between "the ESPR has been adopted" and "the obligation for this product is not yet active", to prevent expectations from being passed on as facts.
This is not legal advice. This page provides general information on the legislation that this platform covers. We do not know your situation. If in doubt about your own case, consult a lawyer or the competent supervisory authority.
Written with AI based on the sources above, checked by a human on 2026-08-22. Is something not right? Let us know — corrections are prioritised.