Advocating the Value of Lighting

LightingEurope has successfully advocated for EU renovation policies to go beyond energy savings to also address the quality of the indoor environment

• the importance of healthy buildings has been acknowledged by the European Parliament in two recent reports on the EU building stock
• the European Commission also stressed the need for a better indoor environment in the EU Renovation Wave Initiative

LightingEurope recommends focusing on non-residential buildings and accelerating the renovation of luminaires to transition to LED-based lighting systems in combination with control and sensors. To explain our reasoning, we

• wrote to the President of the European Commission and 4 Commissioners
• exchanged views with the offices of 5 Members of the European Parliament and the Commission service in charge of the Renovation Wave Initiative
• launched a dedicated social media campaign
• joined forces with 7 industry associations representing technical building systems and their repair and maintenance. Together, we drafted the Heathy Buildings for All Manifesto, which we presented in a joint webinar during the EU Sustainable Energy Week

LightingEurope is advocating for a fair allocation of

liability for noncompliant products sold online

and has gained support from the European Parliament.

We ask for the introduction of new obligations for online marketplaces in the Digital Services Act, to not only react to notifications of non-compliant products found on their platform, but also to prevent their listing and re-listing. We organised 8 meetings with Members of the European Parliament, a dedicated LightingEurope Brussels Direct webinar with the MEP Rapporteur in charge of drafting the European Parliament’s report and launched a social media campaign. We also joined forces with 17 associations and sent a joint letter to EU policymakers. In its report, the European Parliament recommended to reinforce the liability regime of online marketplaces and the introduction of obligations to proceed to certain checks before listing products.

In January 2020, LightingEurope submitted applications to the European Commission to renew 25

RoHS exemptions

for the use of mercury and lead in lamps beyond 2021. The aim of these applications is to:

• align with the phase-out timetable that has been agreed upon under EU ecodesign rules for some conventional products
• where substitutes are becoming available, ensure the market has sufficient time and resources to transition to alternatives
• where no substitutes are available, ensure the market has continuous access to the lamps they need

The European Commission decision on our 2015 applications is subject to an unprecedented delay. We responded to further requests for additional data and voiced our concerns about the process for publishing new information on the availability of substitutes from a limited set of stakeholders and without informing nor consulting the wider market.

LightingEurope is addressing

UV-C disinfection technologies

to harness the booming interest in these technologies as a tool to combat COVID-19. We have launched a new vertical Subgroup to provide a compliant platform for discussion among company experts, published policy statements on the benefits of UV-C and collaborated with lighting organisations from around the world within the Global Lighting Association to align on safety guidelines for this technology. LightingEurope is reaching out to EU and national decision-makers in charge of renovation and health policies, to public health authorities and to the wider value chain to advocate the safe installation and use of quality products and systems, including as part of the upcoming EU Renovation Wave.

COVID-19

- LightingEurope immediately adapted our operations & activities to continue to provide value for members:

• dedicated task force with at first daily/ now weekly calls to provide overview of measures across Europe and evaluate need for LE action
• policy statement for members to use in their discussions with national governments
• Brussels Direct webinars: on average 2 webinars/month for members only. Short updates on latest developments impacting the industry and an opportunity to reconnect EU regulators and the lighting industry for a live exchange of views. With over 20 webinars, we’ve tackled a diverse range of issues including company preparedness for COVID-19, new EU circular economy policies, financial instruments for renovation, Brexit impact on lighting rules, compliance online
• Secretariat advocacy work in Brussels continues via phone calls and online meetings with EU regulators

LightingEurope member associations have launched the

Business Climate Index

to monitor the macro market data of the lighting sector in European countries. Companies from our member associations from across Europe evaluate their market trends for indoor and outdoor appliances, light sources, drivers and components. The results allow associations to benchmark against other countries/markets and underpin our advocacy work to accelerate renovation of lighting, address non-compliance online and create a fair, competitive and regulatory environment in Europe.

Brexit preparedness

To help companies make preparations for doing business on both sides of the channel post-Brexit, LightingEurope worked with our UK member national association the LIA to:

• share the LIA expertise and understanding of the new requirements for accessing the GB market post-Brexit with a dedicated webinar and access to the LIA guidelines for LightingEurope members
• contribute to UK consultations on future UK rules impacting lighting products, e.g. ecodesign and environmental requirements