What is a delegated act in EU law?

A delegated act is how the EU fills in the details of a law after it has been passed. The European Parliament and the Council adopt the main law and give the European Commission the power to add or change specific, non-essential parts. The Commission then adopts a delegated act, which is just as binding as the law itself.

Delegated acts matter for product brands because the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) is built on them. ESPR sets the framework, but the concrete requirements for textiles, furniture, steel or electronics, including what goes into the Digital Product Passport, arrive in a delegated act for each product group.

How a delegated act is made

1. The parent law grants the power. It defines the objectives, content, scope and duration of the delegation. ESPR Article 4 empowers the Commission to set ecodesign requirements.
2. The Commission prepares the draft. For ESPR this includes a preparatory study, consultation of the Ecodesign Forum, an expert group of Member States and stakeholders, and an impact assessment.
3. The public gives feedback. The draft is open for four weeks of feedback on the Have Your Say portal, with some exceptions.
4. The Commission adopts the act.
5. The Parliament and Council can object. They generally have two months. Under ESPR Article 72, either can extend that by two more months. They cannot amend the text, only accept or reject it.
6. Publication and entry into force. The act is published in the Official Journal and enters into force on the date it sets.

Delegated acts under ESPR

An ESPR delegated act for a product group typically sets:

• Performance requirements, such as minimum durability or a share of recycled content.
• Information requirements, including what goes into the passport and on the label.
• Passport details: whether it applies at model, batch or item level, which data carrier to use, who can see which data, and how long the passport must stay available.
• Any extra data to store in the DPP registry.
• The date of application, which ESPR says should be at least 18 months after entry into force, except in duly justified cases.

ESPR also uses delegated acts for cross-cutting topics. One adopted in February 2026 lists the exceptions to the ban on destroying unsold apparel and footwear. The Commission's indicative timeline expects a delegated act setting requirements for DPP service providers in 2027.

Other EU laws work the same way. The EU Battery Regulation, for example, relies on delegated and implementing acts for details such as carbon footprint methods and passport access rights.

Delegated acts versus implementing acts

Both are adopted by the Commission, but they do different jobs:

• Delegated acts (Article 290 TFEU) add to or amend the law itself, for example new product requirements. The Parliament and Council can object.
• Implementing acts (Article 291 TFEU) set uniform conditions for applying the law, such as data formats, label layouts or how a registry runs. A committee of Member State representatives oversees them.

For example, ESPR requirements for each product group come in delegated acts, while the rules for running the DPP registry came in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1778.

How to follow and prepare

• Watch the working plan. The 2025 to 2030 ESPR working plan lists which product groups come next and when.
• Join the process early. Preparatory studies and the public feedback period are the best moments to raise practical problems.
• Subscribe to the Register of Delegated Acts for the product groups you sell.
• Plan from the adoption date. The transition period usually starts when the act enters into force, so data collection should start before then.
• Assign an owner. Each economic operator in your supply chain should know which acts apply to which products.