Executive Vice-President Stéphane Séjourné, in a written answer on 27 July 2026, outlined the Commission's approach to the Digital Product Passport (DPP), stressing that compliance costs for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will be assessed on a product-by-product basis and that no centralised IT system will be imposed. The answer responds to a question from Sunčana Glavak (PPE), who warned that SMEs face significant adaptation costs, administrative burden, and dependence on private digital providers.
Séjourné confirmed that the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) enables DPP introduction for specific product groups via delegated acts, each underpinned by a technical study and impact assessment including cost analysis. Where relevant, an SME check annex will be included. He stressed that the DPP IT infrastructure is decentralised: economic operators host their own DPPs or delegate to service providers, and the Commission has no power to mandate centralised tools beyond the DPP registry, which will store only high-level metadata. A separate delegated act on DPP service provider rules is also planned, with its own impact assessment and SME check.
On financial support, Séjourné pointed to Article 22 of the ESPR, which requires the Commission to issue guidelines and IT tools for SMEs, and calls on Member States to provide financial support, access to finance, or technical assistance. No specific EU-level funding envelope was announced. The answer signals a cautious, step-by-step regulatory approach: the Commission will not pre-emptively set uniform costs or mandate public IT infrastructure, but will tailor requirements per product group and rely on Member States to fill support gaps. Institutional follow-up will come through the delegated acts for each product group, with the first expected under the Ecodesign Working Plan 2025-2030.