EU Battery Regulation (2023/1542) Road to Compliance

Previously, battery manufacturers and others in the supply chain used the Battery Directive (2006/66/EC) to address compliance for environmental and waste management requirements. However, as of August 2025, the EU Battery Regulation (2023/1542) will supersede the Battery Directive and the Battery Directive will be repealed in favour of the regulation.

The EU Battery Regulation is the first EU end-to-end supply chain framework to address lifecycle of batteries with strict market surveillance and compliance requirements. It addresses environmental, safety, and performance concerns, including articles on carbon footprint, use and recycling, due diligence policies and reporting of state of charge (SoC) and expected lifetimes. This is by far the most comprehensive product regulation in existence.

The regulation also offers a unique and innovative feature designed to enhance transparency, traceability, and sustainability across the entire battery lifecycle, ie digital passport.

What is your role within the supply and value chain of batteries to the EU?

An effective way to approach the regulation is through compartmentalisation. 

Depending on your role within the supply and value chain of batteries to the EU, you may face different requirements. Therefore, you first need to identify your ‘’Economic Operator status’’ (See Figure 1) to understand the very specific requirements and duties to follow. 

It is important to note that the responsibility for CE Marking ultimately rests with the manufacturer. 

However, if the importer or distributor places a battery on the market under their own name or trademark or modifies a battery in such a way that compliance and/or its purpose could be affected then they should be considered as the manufacturer and assume the obligations of the manufacturer.

That doesn’t mean others in the supply chain have no responsibility – in fact they need to ensure they practice due diligence (for companies with a net turnover of more than €40 million on a consolidated basis in the previous financial year), carry out risk assessments and hazard analysis and more depending on their Economic Operator status. Most operators within the supply and value chain share certain responsibilities such as being able to:

• Verify that the CE marking is in place
• Keep on hand the EU declaration of conformity, technical documentation, verification and audit reports. They must be able to conduct, when necessary, a risk analysis. The intent of this is to protect human health and safety of consumers
• Cooperate with the national authorities and inform market surveillance authorities of risks

Please note that authorised representatives are also appointed by manufacturers to perform specific tasks on their behalf and fulfilment service providers must ensure the way they handle, store, package, address or dispatch batteries doesn’t jeopardise compliance with Articles 6 to 10 and Articles 12, 13 and 14.

Figure 1

WHAT KIND OF BATTERIES DO YOU SELL?

The second step is to identify the type of battery you are placing on the EU market whether as a standalone product or inside a piece of equipment.

Here is another handy diagram taken from our recent EU Battery Regulations White Paper which shows battery classification, battery definition and battery weight.

Figure 2

Why is this important? Well, it will help you identify which articles you will need to fulfil and when you need to do so.

Figure 3

WHAT'S NEXT?

Now you need to ask yourself whether you have fulfilled the Battery Regulation requirements of 2024. Why? Because quite simply if you don’t have CE Marking on the battery as required by the Battery Regulation,  you can’t sell it.

Here are the summary of obligations as of August 2024 regarding the CE marking and, of course, some depend on the battery type.

Battery type

• Electric vehicle battery according to Art. 3(1) point 14

Documentation requirements to be applied from 18 August 2024

• Technical documentation according to Art. 38(2), in conjunction with (i.c.w.) Annex VIII, part A, section 2
• Risk assessment documentation according to Art. 5(2), i.c.w. Annex VIII, part A, section 2
• Instructions according to Art. 38(1) point a
• Declaration of conformity according to Art. 38(3), i.c.w. Art. 18 and Annex IX

Applicable requirements (from 18 August 2024)

• Art. 6 - Restrictions on substances
  • Annex I
  • Annex XVII of EU REACH Regulation (Reg. (EC) 1907/2006)
  • Art 4(2), point (a) of Directive 2000/53/EC 
  • POP Regulation (EC) 2019/1021
  • ROHS Directive 2011/65/EU
• Art. 10 - Performance and durability requirements for rechargeable electric vehicle batteries
• Art. 10(1) Document to accompany the battery containing values for the parameters set out in Part A of Annex IV
• Art. 10(2) The technical documentation shall contain an explanation of the technical specifications, standards and conditions used to measure, calculate or estimate the values for the parameters including, at least, the elements set out in Part B of Annex IV
• Annex IV

Applicable requirements (from 18 August 2024)

• Art. 13 - Labelling and marking of batteries, i.c.w. Art. 20 and Art. 38
  • Art. 13(5) Marking the battery with the chemical symbol for cadmium / lead
  • Art. 13(7) The labels shall be printed or engraved visibly, legibly and indelibly on the battery
  • Art. 20(1) CE marking on the battery
  • Art. 38(6) Unique battery identification by combination of batch, serial or product number
  • Art. 38(7) Indicate manufacturer`s name, tradename or trademark, postal address, web and e-mail address on the battery
  • Art 41(3) Indicate importer`s name, tradename or trademark, postal address, web and e-mail address on the battery
• Art. 14 - Information on the state of health and expected lifetime of batteries 
  • Art. 14(1) Up-to-date data for the parameters set out in Annex VII shall be contained in the battery management system
  • Art 14(1) i.c.w. Preamble 46 The data should be up to date. It should be updated at least daily and more frequently where that is required for a specific purpose
  • Art. 14(2) Read-only access to the data for the parameters set out in Annex VII through the battery management system shall be provided at any time on a non-discriminatory
  • Art. 14(3) The battery management system shall include a software reset function as well as an alternative procedure shall be described if the software reset function is not used
• Annex VII
• Directive 2006/66/EC

2025 OBLIGATIONS

• Article 7: Carbon footprint declaration for electric vehicle batteries February 2025 - delayed due to the pending publication of the associated delegating act)
• Article 13 Clause 4: Labelling and marking of batteries (August 2025)
• Article 48: Battery due diligence policies

And remember, Directive 2006/66/EC will be repealed effective from 18 August 2025.

This has been a very high-level overview of the immediate and near future requirements. As always, the details are critical, and we are here to assist you in achieving compliance.

ACHIEVING EU BATTERY REGULATION COMPLIANCE

To help you comply with the EU Battery Regulation, we can assist manufacturers in evaluating, testing, and certifying batteries to ensure compliance with safety, performance, and sustainability standards. We can also provide training tailored to your level of expertise and competency level. Contact our team of experts who will be happy to provide you with guidance.

I would also like to thank Christian Theeck and Mohammad Ali Rajaeifar, Senior Lifecycle Assessment Consultant for their contribution.