A
- Access rights
The rules that decide which parts of a Digital Product Passport each group of people can see, such as the public, customers, repairers, recyclers and market surveillance authorities. The rules for a product group are set in its delegated act, so they differ between products.
- Annex XIII
The annex of the Batteries Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2023/1542, that lists the information a battery passport must contain. It is the authority on battery passport content.
- Audit trail
A record of who did what and when: who submitted a value, who approved it, what changed and on which date. In a passport process it lets you show where a published value came from.
B
- Battery passport
The Digital Product Passport required by the Batteries Regulation for certain batteries, from 18 February 2027. Its content is listed in Annex XIII. Which batteries are in scope is set by the regulation, so check it against your product.
C
- Carbon footprint
An estimate of the greenhouse gas emissions linked to a product, usually expressed in carbon dioxide equivalent. A passport can carry it where the rules for the product group ask for it. The calculation method is also set by those rules.
- CEN-CENELEC
The European standardisation organisations CEN and CENELEC, which write European standards. Standards produced by them are expected to support how passport data and data carriers are specified.
D
- Data carrier
The physical or printed element on a product, its packaging or its documents that links to the Digital Product Passport. A QR code is the most common example.
- Delegated act
A legal act adopted by the European Commission that supplements a regulation. Under the ESPR, a delegated act sets the requirements, including the passport content and access rights, for one product group.
- Digital Product Passport
A structured digital record of a product's data, reached by scanning a data carrier such as a QR code. What it contains and who can see which part depends on the rules for the product group.
- Due diligence
In the Batteries Regulation, the duty of certain economic operators to identify and address social and environmental risks in the supply chain of their batteries. Regulation (EU) 2025/1561 postponed these obligations.
E
- Economic operator
A company in the supply chain that the regulation gives duties to, such as a manufacturer, an importer, a distributor or an authorised representative. Responsibility for the passport sits with the economic operator, not with the software it uses.
- ESPR
The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2024/1781. It sets the framework for ecodesign requirements and the Digital Product Passport. It entered into force on 18 July 2024. Detailed rules for each product group follow in delegated acts.
- Evidence
The document or record behind a data value, such as a test report, a certificate or a supplier declaration. Keeping the evidence next to the value is what lets a reviewer check it.
I
- Implementing act
A legal act adopted by the European Commission to set uniform conditions for applying a regulation. Under the ESPR it can cover technical matters. Check the regulation for which topics are handled this way.
- Interoperability
The ability of different systems to exchange and read the same passport data. It is the reason passport data is expected to follow common standards instead of each company's own format.
L
- Legitimate interest
An access level used in the Batteries Regulation for persons who have a reason to see certain battery passport information beyond what is public. The regulation defines who qualifies and what they can see.
P
- Persistent identifier
An identifier that stays the same over the life of a product or a passport, so a printed QR code keeps pointing at the right record even if systems change.
- Product group
A category of products that gets its own rules under the ESPR, set in a delegated act. Batteries are covered by their own regulation. The passport requirements differ by product group.
Q
- QR code
A two-dimensional barcode that a phone camera can read. It is one type of data carrier. The code points to the passport and does not hold the passport data itself.
R
- Recycled content
The share of a product's material that comes from recycled sources. Some passports ask for it. How it is measured and verified depends on the rules for the product group.
S
- Supplier data request
A request sent to a supplier to provide specific values and documents for a passport. A clear request names the field, the format, the due date and what happens if the supplier does not answer.
T
- Tier 1, 2 and 3 supplier
Supplier levels counted from your company. A tier 1 supplier sells directly to you, a tier 2 supplier sells to your tier 1 supplier, and a tier 3 supplier sells to your tier 2 supplier. Passport data often has to come from several of these levels.
U
- Unique product identifier
A code that identifies one product, or one batch or model depending on the rules, in a passport. The exact level of identification is set per product group.
V
- Validity date
The date until which a document or value can be relied on, such as the expiry of a certificate. Tracking it lets you ask the supplier for a renewed document before the old one lapses.
W
- Working Plan (ESPR)
The plan the ESPR asks the European Commission to adopt, listing the product groups it intends to prioritise for ecodesign rules. It shows which groups are likely to get a delegated act next.
These definitions are explanatory and are not legal advice. The regulations are the authority: ESPR, Batteries Regulation.