Cited in the Official Journal does not mean mandatory: how to read a DPP standard
Standard published, standard cited in the Official Journal, obligation created by a delegated act: three distinct statuses that most coverage conflates. How to read DPP announcements without getting it wrong.
Three statuses that are constantly confused
Since the Digital Product Passport standards were published, the same mistake keeps circulating: "the standards are out, so it is mandatory". It is wrong, and the mistake is expensive when you build a budget or a roadmap on it. A standardisation document goes through three states, and they do not carry the same effect.
| State | Who acts | Legal effect |
|---|---|---|
| Standard published by CEN | CEN/CLC/JTC 24 | None. The document exists and can be purchased |
| Reference cited in the Official Journal | European Commission | Presumption of conformity with the requirements covered |
| Requirement made mandatory by a delegated act | European Commission, sector by sector | Obligation, with a transition period |
Only the third creates a constraint. The second is a tool of proof. The first is a technical step.
What citation in the Official Journal actually triggers
Article 41(2) of the ESPR, Regulation (EU) 2024/1781, provides that digital product passports conforming to harmonised standards whose references have been published in the Official Journal are presumed to be in conformity with the requirements set out in Articles 10 and 11, to the extent those requirements are covered by those standards.
In other words, applying the cited standard saves you from having to demonstrate yourself, method by method, that your passport satisfies the content, access and security requirements. The presumption runs from the date the reference is published in the Official Journal, as the recitals of Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/1736 recall.
Two nuances that matter:
- The presumption is partial. It only covers what the standard actually addresses. A standard on data carriers will never relieve you of proving anything else
- Not applying the standard remains possible. You are not committing an offence. You simply carry the burden of proving conformity yourself, without the shortcut
Decision 2026/1736, adopted on 14 July 2026 and published in the Official Journal on 15 July 2026, cites six standards: EN 18216, EN 18219, EN 18220, EN 18221, EN 18222 and EN 18223. The two security standards, EN 18239 and EN 18246, are absent from it, having only been published on 16 September 2026. They await their own citation decision, announced by the Commission for September 2026.
What actually creates the obligation
The obligation flows from delegated acts adopted on the basis of Article 4 of the ESPR. The Commission selects product groups, sets ecodesign requirements and makes the digital product passport mandatory for those products, together with the data to be published.
That timeline is public, and it is slower than the marketing around the passport suggests:
- 18 February 2027: passport mandatory for certain categories of batteries, under Article 77 of the Batteries Regulation (EU) 2023/1542
- Fourth quarter of 2026: sector requirements announced for iron and steel, plus the implementing act on battery access rights
- 2027: construction products, DPP service providers, then textiles, aluminium and tyres
- 2028 and beyond: furniture, mattresses, recycled content
After a delegated act is adopted, economic operators get a transition period of at least 18 months. That is short for a sector that still has to collect supply chain data.
How to read an announcement in two questions
Faced with any news about the Digital Product Passport, ask these two questions instead of reading the headline:
1. Which instrument is involved? A technical standard published by CEN, a Commission citation decision, or a sectoral delegated act? Only the third obliges you to do anything
2. Which date are we talking about? The publication of the document, the citation in the Official Journal, or the date the obligation starts to apply? These three can be months apart, sometimes years
If a headline does not let you answer, it usually means the article itself did not make the distinction.
Key takeaways
Announcements about the Digital Product Passport mix three different things: the release of a technical document, the opening of a proof shortcut, and the birth of an obligation. Only the third changes your workload. While the European timeline sits where it is, the right strategy is not to wait for the obligation but to have a passport architecture already aligned with the standards cited to date, so that compliance is a formality the day a delegated act lands on your sector.
Want to know what your products will have to publish, and by when? DPPify maps your requirements per sector and lets you create your digital product passports before the deadlines become binding.
Sources
- Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 (ESPR), Articles 4, 10, 11, 41 and 80, OJ of 28 June 2024
- European Commission, Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/1736 of 14 July 2026, OJ L, 2026/1736, 15.7.2026
- Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 on batteries, Article 77, battery passport from 18 February 2027
- European Commission, official Digital Product Passport page, indicative timeline consulted on 21 September 2026
- CEN-CENELEC, Digital Product Passport, the cornerstone for the implementation of sustainability and circularity, 15 July 2026