In a world of Trump’s tariffs, there is a regulation that too few are talking about. Yet, its implications may prove transformative for global trade. Adopted in July 2024 and set to take effect in July 2026, the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) is one of the most ambitious legislative moves parallel to the EU’s Clean Industrial Deal.
It represents not merely a European initiative on product standards, but a global shift in how goods are designed, circulated, and disposed of within the EU single market. With this act, Brussels once again positions itself as a global rule-setter, dictating standards more stringent than international benchmarks and forcing foreign exporters to adapt. The European Union (EU) appears not to have learned the lessons of the past with the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (commonly known as CBAM), and now, through the ESPR, it is moving one step closer to becoming a world leader in the circular economy by 2030. The price to pay? It falls on the shoulders of manufacturers, importers, and distributors alike, who will soon face new EU market entry barriers and heightened export scrutiny.
Sustainability and Regulations as the EU’s Battle Horse
Over the past decade, sustainability has shifted from a marginal concern to the very core of trade, alongside digitalisation and security. The European Green Deal of 2019 is a perfect example of how the EU linked climate goals to economic growth, establishing its ecological transition as both a political and economic project aligned with the Paris Agreement objectives.
The ESPR represents the next step in this direction. It sets harmonised sustainability requirements that will directly impact the design, production, and supply chains across multiple industries, with textiles and apparel identified as the first test case in July 2026. Unlike earlier measures, the ESPR works incrementally through the implementation of delegated acts on product-specific regulations, complemented by a set of horizontal parameters – such as durability, reparability, reuse, recyclability, and energy efficiency – that apply across categories. Moreover, to ensure the compliance and traceability of such product requirements, the ESPR will also introduce the Digital Product Passport (DPP): a unique digital identifier for each product, containing comprehensive information about its composition, use, repair, recycling, and disposal.
So far, the Commission’s working plan (2025–2030) translates these principles into obligations for both manufacturers and importers; respectively, the first ones must conduct conformity assessments, issue EU declarations of conformity, ensure circular economy (CE) marking, and upload data to the DPP; importers must, on their side, take corrective measures in cases of non-compliance, ensure DPP availability, and cooperate with surveillance authorities.
The first ones to be hit by the ESPR product-specific parameters will be those working in the textile and apparel industry. Such a choice stems from several factors, among which fall the sector’s contribution to the EU climate, its market size in the EU, and the amelioration potential. From 2026 to 2030, delegated acts will progressively impose sustainability parameters. For instance, the final textiles and apparel products will have to comply with standards related to material efficiency, lifetime extension, water use, and waste reduction.
Why the ESPR Matters NOW
The ESPR matters because the EU is not an isolated regulator: it is the world’s largest single market, and its (unilateral) decisions ripple outward, affecting already destabilised countries by US tariffs. Just as the CBAM was criticised as ‘protectionism disguised as climate policy’ due to its stringent measures, now the ESPR further entranches Europe’s reputation of constraint setter, even if the regulation is WTO-compatible under the non-discrimination principle. Stakeholders were, in fact, not involved ‘extensively enough’ in the discussion and setting of the parameters, while also being the ones not actively seeking to be involved in such conversations. One thing is certain: the first wave of delegated acts is coming in July 2026, and we can expect it to strongly and negatively impact export-heavy economies to the EU, such as China, Bangladesh, Vietnam, and India, whose textile industries feed European consumption.
So, What’s Next?
Companies and governments are urged to anticipate these new product-specific parameters to avoid being left behind and harness the little remaining time before the ESPR comes into force next year. This implies (1) to anticipate delegated acts by using the general parameters in Annex 1 of the ESPR (2024) as a baseline for product innovation. Secondly, to build a data infrastructure that will support the new Digital Product Passport – the cornerstone of compliance, transparency and traceability. Third, human capital should remain a parallel priority through investments in capacity building and upskilling of workers. Fourth, governments, associations and SMEs should engage with EU policymakers in consultations on delegated acts to shape rules that will impact them directly. Finally, it is imperative to move and to do it fast; it is by anticipating sustainable trends and shifts that stakeholders can establish themselves as leaders in the future of global trade.
To conclude, we should be discussing more of this drastic regulation that moves well beyond a simple label and ecodesign façade, and sets strict product parameters in the name of the circular economy. As the July 2026 deadline approaches, the ESPR represents Europe’s boldest step yet in institutionalising the ecological, circular transition, and while the world may not be talking about it now, the regulation’s impact will soon make it impossible to ignore.
The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR): the Upcoming ‘Brussels effect’ on Trade
In a world of Trump’s tariffs, there is a regulation that too few are talking about. Yet, its implications may prove transformative for global trade. Adopted in July 2024 and set to take effect in July 2026, the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) is one of the most ambitious legislative moves parallel to the EU’s Clean Industrial Deal.
It represents not merely a European initiative on product standards, but a global shift in how goods are designed, circulated, and disposed of within the EU single market. With this act, Brussels once again positions itself as a global rule-setter, dictating standards more stringent than international benchmarks and forcing foreign exporters to adapt. The European Union (EU) appears not to have learned the lessons of the past with the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (commonly known as CBAM), and now, through the ESPR, it is moving one step closer to becoming a world leader in the circular economy by 2030. The price to pay? It falls on the shoulders of manufacturers, importers, and distributors alike, who will soon face new EU market entry barriers and heightened export scrutiny.
Sustainability and Regulations as the EU’s Battle Horse
Over the past decade, sustainability has shifted from a marginal concern to the very core of trade, alongside digitalisation and security. The European Green Deal of 2019 is a perfect example of how the EU linked climate goals to economic growth, establishing its ecological transition as both a political and economic project aligned with the Paris Agreement objectives.
The ESPR represents the next step in this direction. It sets harmonised sustainability requirements that will directly impact the design, production, and supply chains across multiple industries, with textiles and apparel identified as the first test case in July 2026. Unlike earlier measures, the ESPR works incrementally through the implementation of delegated acts on product-specific regulations, complemented by a set of horizontal parameters – such as durability, reparability, reuse, recyclability, and energy efficiency – that apply across categories. Moreover, to ensure the compliance and traceability of such product requirements, the ESPR will also introduce the Digital Product Passport (DPP): a unique digital identifier for each product, containing comprehensive information about its composition, use, repair, recycling, and disposal.
So far, the Commission’s working plan (2025–2030) translates these principles into obligations for both manufacturers and importers; respectively, the first ones must conduct conformity assessments, issue EU declarations of conformity, ensure circular economy (CE) marking, and upload data to the DPP; importers must, on their side, take corrective measures in cases of non-compliance, ensure DPP availability, and cooperate with surveillance authorities.
The first ones to be hit by the ESPR product-specific parameters will be those working in the textile and apparel industry. Such a choice stems from several factors, among which fall the sector’s contribution to the EU climate, its market size in the EU, and the amelioration potential. From 2026 to 2030, delegated acts will progressively impose sustainability parameters. For instance, the final textiles and apparel products will have to comply with standards related to material efficiency, lifetime extension, water use, and waste reduction.
Why the ESPR Matters NOW
The ESPR matters because the EU is not an isolated regulator: it is the world’s largest single market, and its (unilateral) decisions ripple outward, affecting already destabilised countries by US tariffs. Just as the CBAM was criticised as ‘protectionism disguised as climate policy’ due to its stringent measures, now the ESPR further entranches Europe’s reputation of constraint setter, even if the regulation is WTO-compatible under the non-discrimination principle. Stakeholders were, in fact, not involved ‘extensively enough’ in the discussion and setting of the parameters, while also being the ones not actively seeking to be involved in such conversations. One thing is certain: the first wave of delegated acts is coming in July 2026, and we can expect it to strongly and negatively impact export-heavy economies to the EU, such as China, Bangladesh, Vietnam, and India, whose textile industries feed European consumption.
So, What’s Next?
Companies and governments are urged to anticipate these new product-specific parameters to avoid being left behind and harness the little remaining time before the ESPR comes into force next year. This implies (1) to anticipate delegated acts by using the general parameters in Annex 1 of the ESPR (2024) as a baseline for product innovation.[1] Secondly, to build a data infrastructure that will support the new Digital Product Passport – the cornerstone of compliance, transparency and traceability. Third, human capital should remain a parallel priority through investments in capacity building and upskilling of workers. Fourth, governments, associations and SMEs should engage with EU policymakers in consultations on delegated acts to shape rules that will impact them directly. Finally, it is imperative to move and to do it fast; it is by anticipating sustainable trends and shifts that stakeholders can establish themselves as leaders in the future of global trade.
To conclude, we should be discussing more of this drastic regulation that moves well beyond a simple label and ecodesign façade, and sets strict product parameters in the name of the circular economy. As the July 2026 deadline approaches, the ESPR represents Europe’s boldest step yet in institutionalising the ecological, circular transition, and while the world may not be talking about it now, the regulation’s impact will soon make it impossible to ignore.
