The European Commission published a draft implementing regulation on 19 October 2026 that defines which actors may access the restricted (non‑public) parts of the EU Digital Battery Passport and for what purposes. The draft is open for public feedback until 16 November 2026; the broader Batteries Regulation and the passport obligation itself remain scheduled to apply from 18 February 2027.
What the draft says
The draft — issued under Article 77(9) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 — adopts a purpose‑based approach to access rights, limiting downloads and reuse of restricted data to specific, authorised uses. “The draft takes a purpose‑based approach,” notes one DPP tracker summarising the text. The implementing text expressly recognises repairers, remanufacturers, repurposers, recyclers and waste‑treatment operators as categories with a legitimate interest in model‑ and battery‑level data; it also explicitly adds repurposers and training centres, and allows the purchaser of a battery to access data on that individual battery (for example state‑of‑health and part numbers). Safety information remains freely shareable.
The draft does not change the passport’s timetable: the Commission’s materials and industry trackers underline that the passport obligation is fixed for 18 February 2027 and that the implementing act only clarifies who may read restricted fields and for what purpose. The draft also missed its statutory deadline — Article 77(9) required adoption by 18 August 2026 — meaning the consultation was published some weeks late.
Practical steps for industry
Under the draft, access is to be purpose‑limited and usage logged, so battery makers, OEMs, recyclers and independent repairers must prepare governance, authentication and auditing processes now. The draft leaves host‑platform responsibilities to economic operators (the party that operates the passport for a battery model), while defining the legitimate classes of users and permitted uses for restricted data. The implementing text also anticipates that some restricted fields (component part numbers, spare‑parts contacts) will be accessible to battery purchasers and those acting on their behalf — an important change for in‑house workshop repairs and second‑hand battery markets.
What this means for the market
For Central and Eastern Europe — where large battery assembly, recycling and components suppliers are growing fast — the draft is material. It clarifies which local recycling and remanufacturing firms, training centres and authorised repair networks will have legal grounds to access the passport data they need to do business. That should speed reuse and recycling chains, lower compliance uncertainty for regional suppliers, and affect contractual arrangements between OEMs, battery suppliers and service providers. However, the industry must still prepare authentication and data‑governance systems now to meet the 18 February 2027 date.
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Sources: DPPView, InfoDPP, European Commission Have Your Say (initiative 16473).
