The EU Commission has abandoned plans to place energy efficiency labels on household items such as hair dryers, toasters and kettles. The plans were originally introduced to complement the Eco-Design Directive, which has been one of the most successful EU interventions in the energy efficiency drive, delivering at least 50% of the EU 2020 energy savings target. If the plans had been implemented, they would have reduced energy consumption by small household equipment such as kettles and toasters by 24% and 17% respectively. This is a backward step by the EU.
