Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 (the New Battery Regulation) repeals EU Directive 2006/66/EC (the former EU Batteries Directive) and seeks to improve the sustainable battery value chain for all batteries, taking into account the carbon footprint of battery manufacturing, the ethical sourcing of raw materials and facilitating the re-use, repurposing and recycling of materials from batteries reaching their end of life.
Article 2 of the regulation sets out the regulation’s objectives, namely that the new battery regulation intends to prevent and reduce the adverse impacts of batteries on the environment, and to protect the environment and human health by reducing the adverse impacts of generating and managing ‘waste’ batteries.
Article 7 of the regulation establishes that a carbon footprint must be produced for electric vehicle battery models, rechargeable industrial battery models with a capacity greater than 2 kWh and ‘light means of transport’ (LMT) battery models, and that such batteries must bear a conspicuous and clearly legible label indicating their carbon footprint.
Article 48 sets out the battery due diligence policies, include an obligation for the European Commission to publish guidelines on the application of due diligence requirements by February 18th 2025. Economic operators that place batteries on the market are obliged to fulfil the due diligence obligations and implement battery due diligence policies from August 18th 2025. Article 83 of the regulation's preamble states that when effectuating a battery due diligence policy, the economic operator should base it on internationally recognised due diligence standards and principles, such as those in the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact, the United Nations Environment programme (UNEP) Guidelines for Social Life Cycle Assessment of Products, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct.
Article 77 establishes that from February 2027 onwards, LMT batteries, industrial batteries with a capacity greater than 2kWh and each electric vehicle battery placed on the market must have a ‘battery passport’ (an electronic record of the battery). As Article 123 of the regulation's preamble states, the battery passport is intended to enhance transparency along supply and value chains for all stakeholders, by enabling the tracking and tracing of batteries and providing information about the carbon intensity of their manufacturing processes as well as the origin of the materials used and whether renewable materials are used, and the recycling and recovery processes to which the batteries could be subject to at the end of their lifetime.

Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 July 2023 concerning batteries and waste batteries (New Battery Regulation)

The summary of this document was written by researchers at the <a href="http://lse.ac.uk/grantham" target="_blank"> Grantham Research Institute </a> . If you want to use this summary, please check <a href="https://www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminstitute/cclw-terms-and-conditions" target="_blank"> terms of use </a> for citation and licensing of third party data.

Regulation (EU) 2025/1561 amending Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 as regards obligations of economic operators concerning battery due diligence policies

Entered into force

European Union

Climate Change Laws of the World

Find climate change laws, policies, targets and other climate policy data and indicators for {text}, alongside information about their legislative process.

{text} climate laws and policies

The Climate Change Laws of the World database gives you access to national-level climate change legislation and policies from around the world.

Law and Policy Search

Quickly and easily search through the complete text of thousands of climate change law and policy documents from every country.

Search the Climate Change Laws of the World database

An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Justice is the ethical and political framework that addresses fairness, including issues of responsibility, rights, and structural inequity.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

The processes through which enterprises can identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how they address their actual and potential adverse impacts. Due diligence is the idea that reasonable precautions should be taken to avoid causing harm to people, the environment, or society. It also involves identifying and mitigating risks before they occur.

Actions to reduce emissions in energy generation and supply.

Technologies that capture and hold energy in reserve for later use.

The activities of industries that transforms raw materials into finished goods through industrial processes.

the fair distribution of risks and opportunities of climate change and the transition to a regenerative economy, cognisant in particular of disproportionate impacts on vulnerable communities and the working class

Regulation (EU) 2025/1561 amending Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 as regards obligations of economic operators concerning battery due diligence policies

Policy instrument

Climate justice

Economic sector