Commission Regulation (EU) 2019/2023 of 1 October 2019 laying down ecodesign requirements for household washing machines and household washer-dryers pursuant to Directive 2009/125/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, amending Commission Regulation (EC) No 1275/2008 and repealing Commission Regulation (EU) No 1015/2010 (Text with EEA relevance.)

1 This Regulation establishes ecodesign requirements for the placing on the market or the putting into service of electric mains-operated household washing machines and household washer-dryers, including built-in household washing machines and household washer-dryers and electric mains-operated household washing machines and household washer-dryers that can also be powered by batteries.

2 This Regulation shall not apply to: (a) washing machines and washer-dryers belonging to the scope of Directive 2006/42/EC; (b) battery-operated household washing machines and household washer-dryers that can be connected to the mains through an AC/DC converter purchased separately.

3 The requirements in points 1 to 6, 9(1)(a) and (c), and 9(2)(i) and (vii) of Annex II shall not apply to: (a) household washing machines with a rated capacity lower than 2 kg; (b) household washer-dryers with a rated washing capacity lower than 2 kg.

For the purpose of this Regulation the following definitions shall apply: (1) ‘mains’ or ‘electric mains’ means the electricity supply from the grid of 230 (± 10 %) volts of alternating current at 50 Hz; (2) ‘automatic washing machine’ means a washing machine where the load is fully treated by the washing machine without the need for user intervention at any point during the programme; (3) ‘household washing machine’ means an automatic washing machine which cleans and rinses household laundry by using water, chemical, mechanical and thermal means, which also has a spin extraction function, and which is declared by the manufacturer in the Declaration of Conformity as complying with Directive 2014/35/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council or with Directive 2014/53/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council ; (4) ‘household washer-dryer’ means a household washing machine which, in addition to the functions of an automatic washing machine, in the same drum includes a means for drying the textiles by heating and tumbling, and which is declared by the manufacturer in the Declaration of Conformity as complying with Directive 2014/35/EU or with Directive 2014/53/EU; (5) ‘built-in household washing machine’ means a household washing machine that is designed, tested and marketed exclusively: (a) to be installed in cabinetry or encased (top and/or bottom, and sides) by panels; (b) to be securely fastened to the sides, top or floor of the cabinetry or panels; and (c) to be equipped with an integral factory-finished face or to be fitted with a custom front panel; (6) ‘built-in household washer-dryer’ means a household washer-dryer that is designed, tested and marketed exclusively: (a) to be installed in cabinetry or encased (top and/or bottom, and sides) by panels; (b) to be securely fastened to the sides, top or floor of the cabinetry or panels; and (c) to be equipped with an integral factory-finished face or to be fitted with a custom front panel; (7) ‘multi-drum household washing machine’ means a household washing machine equipped with more than one drum, whether in separate units or in the same casing; (8) ‘multi-drum household washer-dryer’ means a household washer-dryer equipped with more than one drum, whether in separate units or in the same casing; (9) ‘equivalent model’ means a model which has the same technical characteristics relevant for the technical information to be provided, but which is placed on the market or put into service by the same manufacturer, importer or authorised representative as another model with a different model identifier; (10) ‘model identifier’ means the code, usually alphanumeric, which distinguishes a specific product model from other models with the same trade mark or the same manufacturer's, importer's or authorised representative's name; (11) ‘product database’ means a collection of data concerning products, which is arranged in a systematic manner and consists of a consumer-oriented public part, where information concerning individual product parameters is accessible by electronic means, an online portal for accessibility and a compliance part, with clearly specified accessibility and security requirements, as laid down in Regulation (EU) 2017/1369; (12) ‘eco 40-60’ means the name of the programme declared by the manufacturer, importer or authorised representative as able to clean normally soiled cotton laundry declared to be washable at 40 °C or 60 °C, together in the same washing cycle, and to which the ecodesign requirements on energy efficiency, washing efficiency, rinsing effectiveness, programme duration and water consumption relate; (13) ‘programme’ means a series of operations that are pre-defined and which are declared by the manufacturer, importer or authorised representative as suitable for washing, drying or continuously washing and drying certain types of textile; (14) ‘washing cycle’ means a complete washing process as defined by a selected programme, consisting of a series of different operations including washing, rinsing, and spinning. For the purpose of the annexes, additional definitions are set out in Annex I.

The ecodesign requirements set out in Annex II and Annex VI shall apply from the dates indicated therein.

1 The conformity assessment procedure referred to in Article 8 of Directive 2009/125/EC shall be the internal design control system set out in Annex IV to that Directive or the management system set out in Annex V to that Directive.

2 For the purposes of the conformity assessment pursuant to Article 8 of Directive 2009/125/EC, the technical documentation shall contain the declared values of parameters listed in points 3 to 7 of Annex II and the details and results of the calculations undertaken in accordance with Annex III.

3 Where the information included in the technical documentation for a particular model has been obtained: (a) from a model that has the same technical characteristics relevant for the technical information to be provided but is produced by a different manufacturer, or (b) by calculation on the basis of design or extrapolation from another model of the same or a different manufacturer, or both, the technical documentation shall include the details of such calculation, the assessment undertaken by the manufacturer to verify the accuracy of the calculation and, where appropriate, the declaration of identity between the models of different manufacturers. The technical documentation shall include a list of all equivalent models, including the model identifiers.

4 The technical documentation shall include the information in the order and as set out in Annex VI of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/2014. For market surveillance purposes, manufacturers, importers or authorised representatives may, without prejudice to point 2(g) of Annex IV to Directive 2009/125/EC, refer to the technical documentation uploaded to the product database which contains the same information laid down in Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/2014.

Member States' authorities shall apply the verification procedure set out in Annex IV when performing the market surveillance checks referred to in point 2 of Article 3 of Directive 2009/125/EC.

The manufacturer, importer or authorised representative shall not place on the market products designed to be able to detect they are being tested (e.g. by recognising the test conditions or test cycle), and to react specifically by automatically altering their performance during the test with the aim of reaching a more favourable level for any of the parameters declared by the manufacturer, importer or authorised representative in the technical documentation or included in any documentation provided. The consumption of energy and water of the product and any of the other declared parameters shall not deteriorate after a software or firmware update when measured with the same test standard originally used for the declaration of conformity, except with explicit consent of the end-user prior to the update. No performance change shall occur as a result of rejecting the update.

The indicative benchmarks for the best-performing products and technologies available on the market at the time of adopting this Regulation are set out in Annex V.

The Commission shall review this Regulation in the light of technological progress and shall present the results of this review, including, if appropriate, a draft revision proposal, to the Consultation Forum by 25 December 2025. The review shall in particular focus on the following: (a) the improvement potential with regard to energy and environmental performance of household washing machines and household washer-dryers; (b) the evolution of consumer behaviour and the feasibility of a mandatory feedback mechanism on the loading of the appliance and the energy consumption of the selected programme; (c) the effectiveness of existing requirements on resource efficiency; (d) the appropriateness of setting additional resource efficiency requirements for products in accordance with the objectives of the circular economy, including whether more spare parts should be included; (e) the feasibility and appropriateness of new requirements on the automatic dosage of detergents and other additives; (f) the feasibility and appropriateness of new requirements for reducing microplastics in the water outlet, such as filters.

In point 1 of Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 1275/2008: the entry ‘Washing machines’ is deleted; the entry ‘Other appliances for cooking and other processing of food, cleaning, and maintenance of clothes’ is replaced by ‘Other appliances for cooking and other processing of food, cleaning and maintenance of clothes with the exception of household washing machines and household washer-dryers’.

Regulation (EU) No 1015/2010 is repealed as of 1 March 2021.

As from 25 December 2019 until 28 February 2021, by way of derogation to the requirement in point 1 of Annex I to Regulation (EU) No 1015/2010, the indications of ‘Standard 60 °C cotton programme’ and ‘Standard 40 °C cotton programme’ shall not need to be displayed on the programme selection device of household washing machines or on the household washing machines display, if the following conditions are complied with: the ‘Standard 60 °C cotton programme’ and ‘Standard 40 °C cotton programme’ are clearly identifiable in the booklet of instructions and in the technical documentation with the meaning of point (2) of Article 4 of Regulation (EU) No 1015/2010; and the ‘eco 40-60’ programme is clearly displayed on the programme selection device of household washing machines or on the household washing machines display, in accordance with point 1(3) of Annex II to this Regulation.

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. It shall apply from 1 March 2021. However, Article 6, first paragraph, and Article 11 shall apply from 25 December 2019.