Commission Regulation (EU) 2019/2020 of 1 October 2019 laying down ecodesign requirements for light sources and separate control gears pursuant to Directive 2009/125/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Commission Regulations (EC) No 244/2009, (EC) No 245/2009 and (EU) No 1194/2012 (Text with EEA relevance.)

Article 1

Subject matter and scope

This Regulation establishes ecodesign requirements for the placing on the market of

(a) light sources;

(b) separate control gears.

The requirements also apply to light sources and separate control gears placed on the market in a containing product.

Article 2

Definitions

For the purpose of this Regulation, the following definitions shall apply:

(1) ‘light source’ means an electrically operated product intended to emit, or, in the case of a non-incandescent light source, intended to be possibly tuned to emit, light, or both, with all of the following optical characteristics: (a) chromaticity coordinates x and y in the range 0,270 < x < 0,530 and – 2,3172 x² + 2,3653 x – 0,2199 < y < – 2,3172 x² + 2,3653 x – 0,1595 ; (b) a luminous flux < 500 lumen per mm² of projected light-emitting surface area as defined in Annex I; (c) a luminous flux between 60 and 82 000 lumen; (d) a colour rendering index (CRI) > 0; using incandescence, fluorescence, high-intensity discharge, inorganic light emitting diodes (LED) or organic light emitting diodes (OLED), or their combinations as lighting technology, and that can be verified as a light source according to the procedure of Annex IV. High-pressure sodium (HPS) light sources that do not fulfil condition (a) are considered light sources for the purposes of this Regulation. Light sources do not include: (a) LED dies or LED chips; (b) LED packages; (c) products containing light source(s) from which these light source(s) can be removed for verification; (d) light-emitting parts contained in a light source from which these parts cannot be removed for verification as a light source;

(2) ‘control gear’ means one or more devices, that may or may not be physically integrated in a light source, intended to prepare the mains for the electric format required by one or more specific light sources within boundary conditions set by electric safety and electromagnetic compatibility. It may include transforming the supply and starting voltage, limiting operational and preheating current, preventing cold starting, correcting the power factor and/or reducing radio interference. The term ‘control gear’ does not include power supplies within the scope of Commission Regulation (EC) No 278/2009 (¹). The term also does not include lighting control parts and non-lighting parts (as defined in Annex I), although such parts may be physically integrated with a control gear or marketed together as a single product. A Power over Ethernet (PoE) switch is not a control gear in the sense of this Regulation. ‘Power-over-Ethernet switch’ or ‘PoE switch’ means equipment for power-supply and data-handling that is installed between the mains and office equipment and/or light sources for the purpose of data transfer and power supply;

(3) ‘separate control gear’, means a control gear that is not physically integrated with a light source and is placed on the market as a separate product or as a part of a containing product;

(4) ‘containing product’, means a product containing one or more light sources, or separate control gears, or both, including, but not limited to, luminaires that can be taken apart to allow separate verification of the contained light source(s), household appliances containing light source(s), furniture (shelves, mirrors, display cabinets) containing light source(s);

(5) ‘light’ means electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength between 380 nm and 780 nm;

(6) ‘mains’ or ‘mains voltage’ (MV) means the electricity supply of 230 (± 10 %) volt of alternating current at 50 Hz;

(7) ‘LED die’ or ‘LED chip’ means a small block of light-emitting semiconducting material on which a functional LED circuit is fabricated;

(8) ‘LED package’ means a single electric part comprising principally at least one LED die. It does not include a control gear or parts of it, a cap or active electronic components and is not connected directly to the mains voltage. It can include one or more of the following: optical elements, light converters (phosphors), thermal, mechanical and electric interfaces or parts to address electrostatic discharge concerns. Any light-emitting devices that are intended to be used directly in an LED luminaire, are considered to be light sources;

(9) ‘chromaticity’ means the property of a colour stimulus defined by its chromaticity coordinates (x and y);

(10) ‘luminous flux’ or ‘flux’ (Φ), expressed in lumen (lm), means the quantity derived from radiant flux (radiant power) by evaluating the electromagnetic radiation in accordance with the spectral sensitivity of the human eye. It refers to the total flux emitted by a light source in a solid angle of 4π steradians under conditions (e.g. current, voltage, temperature) specified in applicable standards. It refers to the initial flux for the undimmed light source after a short operating period, unless it is clearly specified that the flux in a dimmed condition or the flux after a given period of operation is intended. For light sources that can be tuned to emit different light spectra and/or different maximum light intensities, it refers to the flux in the ‘reference control settings’ as defined in Annex I;

(11) ‘colour rendering index’ (CRI) means a metric quantifying the effect of an illuminant on the colour appearance of objects by conscious or subconscious comparison with their colour appearance under the reference illuminant and is the average Ra of the colour rendering for the first 8 test colours (R1-R8) defined in standards;

(12) ‘incandescence’ means the phenomenon where light is produced from heat, in light sources typically produced through a threadlike conductor (‘filament’) which is heated by the passage of an electric current;

(13) ‘halogen light source’ means an incandescent light source with a threadlike conductor made from tungsten surrounded by gas containing halogens or halogen compounds;

(14) ‘fluorescence’ or ‘fluorescent light source’ (FL) means the phenomenon or a light source using an electric gas discharge of the low-pressure mercury type in which most of the light is emitted by one or more layers of phosphors excited by the ultraviolet radiation from the discharge. Fluorescent light sources may have one (‘single-capped’) or two (‘double-capped’) connections (‘caps’) to their electricity supply. For the purposes of this Regulation, magnetic induction light sources are also considered as fluorescent light sources;

(15) ‘high intensity discharge’ (HID) means an electric gas discharge in which the light- producing arc is stabilised by wall temperature and the arc chamber has a bulb wall loading in excess of 3 watts per square centimetre. HID light sources are limited to metal halide, high-pressure sodium and mercury vapour types, as defined in Annex I;

(16) ‘gas discharge’ means a phenomenon where light is produced, directly or indirectly, by an electric discharge through a gas, plasma, metal vapour or mixture of gases and vapours;

(17) ‘inorganic light emitting diode’ (LED) means a technology in which light is produced from a solid state device embodying a p-n junction of inorganic material. The junction emits optical radiation when excited by an electric current;

(18) ‘organic light emitting diode’ (OLED) means a technology in which light is produced from a solid state device embodying a p-n junction of organic material. The junction emits optical radiation when excited by an electric current;

(19) ‘high-pressure sodium light source’ (HPS) means a high intensity discharge light source in which the light is produced mainly by radiation from sodium vapour operating at a partial pressure of the order of 10 kilopascals. HPS light sources may have one (‘single-ended’) or two (‘double-ended’) connectors to their electricity supply.

(20) ‘equivalent model’ means a model with the same technical characteristics relevant for the ecodesign requirements, but that is placed on the market or put into service by the same manufacturer or importer as another model with a different model identifier;

(21) ‘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 or importer's name;

(22) ‘end-user’ means a natural person buying or expected to buy a product for purposes which are outside his trade, business, craft or profession.

For the purposes of the Annexes, additional definitions are set out in Annex I.

Article 3

Ecodesign requirements

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

Article 4

Removal of light sources and separate control gears

Manufacturers, importers or authorised representatives of containing products shall ensure that light sources and separate control gears can be removed without being permanently damaged for verification purposes by market surveillance authorities. The technical documentation shall provide instructions on how to do this.

Article 5

Conformity assessment

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 details of such calculations or extrapolations, the assessment carried out by the manufacturer to verify the accuracy of the calculations 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.

Article 6

Verification procedure for market surveillance purposes

Member States shall apply the verification procedure laid down in Annex IV to this Regulation when performing the market surveillance checks referred to in point 2 of Article 3 of Directive 2009/125/EC.

Article 7

Circumvention and software updates

The manufacturer, importer or authorised representative shall not place on the market products designed to be able to detect they are being tested (for example, 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 in the technical documentation or included in any documentation provided.

The energy consumption 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.

A software update shall never have the effect of changing the product's performance in a way that makes it non-compliant with the ecodesign requirements applicable for the declaration of conformity.

Article 8

Indicative benchmarks

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 VI.

Article 9

Review

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 no later than 25 December 2024.

This review shall in particular assess the appropriateness of:

(a) setting more stringent energy efficiency requirements for all light source types, in particular for non-LED light source types, and for separate control gears;

(b) setting requirements on lighting control parts;

(c) setting more stringent requirements on flicker and stroboscopic effects, while extending them to separate control gears;

(d) setting requirements on dimming, including the interaction with flicker;

(e) setting more stringent requirements on (networked) standby power;

(f) lowering or abolishing the power bonus for colour-tuneable light sources and removing the exemption for high colour purity;

(g) setting lifetime requirements;

(h) setting improved information requirements concerning lifetime, including for control gears;

(i) substituting the CRI colour rendering metric by a more adequate metric;

(j) verifying the adequacy of lumen as a stand-alone metric for the quantity of visible light;

(k) the exemptions;

(l) setting additional resource efficiency requirements for products in accordance with the principles of the circular economy, especially concerning the removability and exchangeability of light sources and control gears.

Article 10

Repeal

Regulations (EC) No 244/2009, (EC) No 245/2009 and (EU) No 1194/2012 are repealed with effect from 1 September 2021.

Article 11

Entry into force and application

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 September 2021. However, Article 7 shall apply from 25 December 2019.

Article 12

Transitional compliance equivalence

If no unit belonging to the same model or equivalent models was placed on the market before 1 July 2021, the units of models placed on the market between 1 July 2021 and 31 August 2021 which comply with the provisions of this regulation shall be considered compliant with the requirements of Commission Regulations (EC) No 244/2009, (EC) No 245/2009 and (EU) No 1194/2012.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

ANNEX I

The following definitions shall apply:

(1) ‘mains light source (MLS)’ means a light source that can be operated directly on the mains electricity supply. Light sources that operate directly on the mains, and can also operate indirectly on the mains using a separate control gear, shall be considered to be mains light sources;

(2) ‘non-mains light source (NMLS)’ means a light source that requires a separate control gear to operate on the mains;

(3) ‘directional light source’ (DLS) means a light source having at least 80 % of total luminous flux within a solid angle of π sr (corresponding to a cone with angle of 120°);

(4) ‘non-directional light source’ (NDLS) means a light source that is not a directional light source;

(5) ‘connected light source’ (CLS) means a light source including data-connection parts that are physically or functionally inseparable from the light emitting parts to maintain the ‘reference control settings’. The light source can have physically integrated data-connection parts in a single inseparable housing, or the light source can be combined with physically separate data-connection parts placed on the market together with the light source as a single product;

(6) ‘connected separate control gear’ (CSCG) means a separate control gear including data-connection parts that are physically or functionally inseparable from the actual control gear parts to maintain the ‘reference control settings’. The separate control gear can have physically integrated data-connection parts in a single inseparable housing, or the separate control gear can be combined with physically separate data-connection parts placed on the market together with the control gear as a single product;

(7) ‘data-connection parts’ means parts that perform any one of the following functions: (a) reception or transmission of wired or wireless data signals and the processing thereof (used to control the light emission function and possibly otherwise); (b) sensing and processing of the sensed signals (used to control the light emission function and possibly otherwise); (c) a combination of these;

(8) ‘colour-tuneable light source’ (CTLS) means a light source that can be set to emit light with a large variety of colours outside the range defined in Article 2 but can also be set to emit white light inside the range defined in Article 2 for which the light source is within the scope of this Regulation. Tuneable-white light sources that can only be set to emit light, with different correlated colour temperatures, within the range defined in Article 2, and dim-to-warm light sources that shift their white light output to lower correlated colour temperature when dimmed, simulating the behaviour of incandescent light sources, are not considered CTLS;

(9) ‘excitation purity’ means a percentage computed for a CTLS set to emit light of a certain colour, using a procedure further defined in standards, by drawing a straight line on an (x and y) colour space graph from a point with colour coordinates x = 0,333 and y = 0,333 (achromatic stimulus point), going through the point representing the (x and y) colour coordinates of the light source (point (2), and ending on the outer border of the colour space (locus; point (3). The excitation purity is computed as the distance between points 1 and 2 divided by the distance between points 1 and 3. The full length of the line represents 100 % colour purity (point on the locus). The achromatic stimulus point represents 0 % colour purity (white light);

(10) ‘high-luminance light source’ (HLLS) means a LED light source with an average luminance greater than 30 cd/mm² in the direction of peak intensity;

(11) ‘luminance’ (in a given direction, at a given point of a real or imaginary surface) means the luminous flux transmitted by an elementary beam passing through the given point and propagating in the solid angle containing the given direction divided by the area of a section of that beam containing the given point (cd/m²);

(12) ‘average luminance’ (Luminance-HLLS) for a LED light source means the average luminance over a light-emitting area where the luminance is more than 50 % of the peak luminance (cd/mm²);

(13) ‘lighting control parts’ means parts that are integrated in a light source or in a separate control gear, or physically separated but marketed together with a light source or separate control gear as a single product, that are not strictly necessary for the light source to emit light at full-load, or for the separate control gear to supply the electric power that enables light source(s) to emit light at full-load, but that enable manual- or automatic-, direct- or remote-, control of luminous intensity, chromaticity, correlated colour temperature, light spectrum and/or beam angle. Dimmers shall also be considered as lighting control parts. The term also includes data-connection parts, but the term does not include products within the scope of Regulation (EC) No 1275/2008;