The single most-asked DPP question is "from when?". The honest answer: it depends on your product category, and most published dates mix up three different things - framework milestones, delegated acts and actual enforcement. Here is the sober timeline, with certainty levels marked.
How to read DPP dates
Every category goes through the same three steps:
- Framework - ESPR in force since 18 July 2024; central registry live since 20 July 2026. Done, and not your deadline.
- Delegated act - the Commission adopts detailed rules for your category (which data, which granularity, which carrier).
- Enforcement - at least 18 months after the act. This is the date that matters for your production.
The timeline by industry
| Category | Delegated act | Obligations bite | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Batteries (EV, e-bike, industrial >2 kWh) | adopted (Battery Regulation 2023/1542) | 18 Feb 2027 | CERTAIN |
| Iron and steel | expected from late 2026 | ~2028 | expected |
| Textiles and apparel | expected 2027 | ~2028-2029 | expected |
| Aluminium | expected 2027 | ~2028-2029 | expected |
| Tyres | expected 2027 | ~2028-2029 | expected |
| Furniture | expected 2028 | ~2029-2030 | expected |
| Mattresses | expected 2029 | ~2030-2031 | expected |
| Footwear | excluded for now; study runs to end of 2027 | next cycle | open |
| Chemicals | excluded from the first Working Plan | - | open |
Sources: ESPR Working Plan 2025-2030 (adopted 16 April 2025), Battery Regulation (EU) 2023/1542, Commission communications through July 2026. "Expected" dates are the Commission's indicative schedule; they can slip, and historically they slip later, not earlier.
Three practical readings
- Batteries are the rehearsal everyone should watch. Around 80 data points, item-level granularity, live from February 2027. How that rollout goes will shape how strictly the later categories are drafted and enforced.
- Textile brands have roughly two to three years - enough to fix data at a calm pace, not enough to ignore it. The recommended granularity (batch, not item) makes compliance far cheaper than most brands fear.
- Furniture makers have the most silent runway. The category is scheduled, the content requirements are foreseeable, and almost nobody in the industry is preparing. Being early here is a competitive weapon, not a cost.
Never miss your date
We track every delegated act and update this timeline as the Commission moves. Put your industry into our DPP deadline calendar and we will email you when a date that concerns you changes or approaches - nothing else, no spam.
Łukasz Głuch
Builds DPPera, a digital product passport tool for small and medium-sized companies. Reads the delegated acts so you do not have to. Writes about what he checked in the registry, not about what vendors promise.
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