---
title: "Delegated act (in the ESPR context)"
description: "A delegated act is a non-legislative act of general application that the Commission adopts under a power delegated by a legislative act to supplement or amend its non-essential elements; under the ESPR, delegated acts are the instruments that set the actual ecodesign and product passport requirements for each product group."
type: "glossary"
url: "https://www.conphora.com/research/glossary/delegated-act/"
markdown: "https://www.conphora.com/research/glossary/delegated-act.md"
locale: "en"
language: "en"
updated: "2026-09-10"
author: "Conphora compliance team"
publisher: "Conphora"
tags: ["sustainability", "documentation"]
license: "Free to quote with attribution and a link to the page"
---

# Delegated act (in the ESPR context)

A delegated act is a non-legislative act of general application that the Commission adopts under a power delegated by a legislative act to supplement or amend its non-essential elements; under the ESPR, delegated acts are the instruments that set the actual ecodesign and product passport requirements for each product group.

Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union allows a legislative act to delegate to the Commission the power to adopt non-legislative acts of general application that supplement or amend non-essential elements of that act. The legislative act must define the objectives, content, scope and duration of the delegation, and the European Parliament or the Council can revoke it or object to an individual act within a set period.

The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation is built on this mechanism. The regulation itself contains no requirements for any product; Article 4 empowers the Commission to adopt delegated acts setting ecodesign requirements per product group, and each act must specify the conformity assessment procedure, the content of the digital product passport and, where needed, additional obligations on documentation and supply-chain information. Article 4(4) requires that the date of application of a delegated act is normally not earlier than 18 months after its entry into force, so that manufacturers have time to comply. Article 18 obliges the Commission to prioritise products according to their potential contribution to climate, environmental and energy objectives and to publish a working plan; the first plan was adopted in April 2025. Article 72 sets the conditions: the power is conferred for five years from 18 July 2024, tacitly renewable, Member State experts are consulted, and an act enters into force only if neither the Parliament nor the Council objects within two months.

For a company this means monitoring two levels of law: the framework regulation and the delegated act for its own product group, where the measurable requirements, test methods, passport data and dates are found. RoHS, the Batteries Regulation and the Packaging Regulation use delegated acts in the same way to update annexes and technical details.

## Legislation

- ESPR: [Regulation (EU) 2024/1781, Art. 4, Art. 18, Art. 72](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:02024R1781-20240628)
- TFEU: [Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Art. 290](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:12016E290)

## Sources

- [Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, consolidated version, Art. 290](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:12016E290)
- [Regulation (EU) 2024/1781, consolidated text, Art. 4 (empowerments to adopt delegated acts), Art. 18 (prioritisation and planning) and Art. 72 (exercise of the delegation)](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:02024R1781-20240628)
- [European Commission, Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (working plan and delegated acts)](https://environment.ec.europa.eu/strategy/circular-economy/ecodesign-sustainable-products-regulation_en)