2026-04-10
Textiles ESPR preparatory study: the third-milestone consultation and what comes next
The JRC's preparatory study on textile products under the ESPR ran its third-milestone stakeholder consultation from 16 December 2025 to 30 March 2026. The textiles delegated act, including the Digital Product Passport, is scheduled for 2027 under the Working Plan. Corrected on 8 September 2026.
Correction, 8 September 2026. An earlier version of this post stated that the Commission had opened a Have Your Say public consultation on the textiles delegated act running until 30 June 2026, and described its contents. We have not been able to verify that consultation against any Commission source. The stakeholder consultation that did take place in early 2026 was the third milestone of the JRC preparatory study, described below. We have rewritten the post accordingly and apologise for the error.
The textiles track of the ESPR is advancing through the Joint Research Centre's preparatory study on textile products, which follows the MEErP methodology adapted for textiles under Regulation (EU) 2024/1781. The study is organised in four milestones, each with a stakeholder consultation window, as set out in the JRC Product Bureau's project plan.
The milestones so far
- First milestone, scope, market, user behaviour and current EU Ecolabel criteria: consultation from 23 February to 22 April 2024.
- Second milestone, technologies, environmental and economic modelling and a substances questionnaire: consultation from 14 November 2024 to 17 March 2025.
- Third milestone, base cases and design options: working documents distributed on 16 December 2025, an online stakeholder workshop on 14 and 15 January 2026, and written feedback through EU Survey questionnaires until 30 March 2026 at 23:59 CET.
- Fourth milestone, policy scenarios and Digital Product Passport elements: date to be communicated.
Where the DPP content comes from
The passport data list for apparel is being developed in a dedicated JRC study, the Study on DPP content for textile apparel products under ESPR, published on 13 May 2026. We have summarised its proposals on identifiers, granularity and access rights in a separate update. Both documents are preparatory and do not necessarily reflect the Commission's position.
What comes next
The Working Plan schedules the textiles delegated act for 2027. Before adoption the Commission must consult the Ecodesign Forum and publish a draft for public feedback on the Have Your Say portal. When that draft appears we will cover it here. Until then, the preparatory-study documents are the best indication of direction, not of law.
Track this work item in our delegated-acts tracker and the textiles sector guide.
Primary source: JRC Product Bureau, textile products project plan.
Frequently asked questions
Was there a public consultation on the ESPR textiles delegated act in 2026?
Not on a draft delegated act. In 2026 the stakeholder consultation for textiles ran through the JRC preparatory study on textile products: the third milestone, covering base cases and design options, was open for written feedback from 16 December 2025 to 30 March 2026, with an online workshop on 14 and 15 January 2026. A Have Your Say consultation on the delegated act itself has not been published as of September 2026.
When is the textiles delegated act expected?
The ESPR Working Plan 2025 to 2030 gives 2027 as the indicative adoption year for the textiles delegated act. The ESPR then provides a transition period of at least 18 months before requirements apply.