The EU’s new Batteries Regulation, which entered into force in 2023 and began to apply across the single market in February 2024, brings phased obligations that will bite in 2026 and beyond — notably labelling and carbon‑footprint performance classes for electric‑vehicle (EV) batteries from 18 August 2026, and a Digital Product Passport (DPP) roll‑out over 2026–2027. Romanian carmakers and thousands of local suppliers now face a short compliance window to gather verified upstream data on materials, processing and recycled content.
Key compliance deadlines and obligations
The legal text (Regulation (EU) 2023/1542) requires the Commission to adopt methodologies and secondary acts for carbon‑footprint calculation and labelling; it sets 18 August 2026 as the date by which labelling requirements and carbon‑footprint performance classes for EV batteries take effect, subject to the timing of delegated and implementing acts. The DPP technical system and registry are due in mid‑2026, with roll‑out phases for passports and data fields following in 2027. Reporting on recycled content and certain due‑diligence items is staged later (documentation obligations for some battery types start from 18 August 2028 and due‑diligence obligations were postponed to August 2027 by later implementing measures).
Local readiness: carmakers and suppliers
Romania’s vehicle production hubs — above all Dacia’s Mioveni complex and the wider network of tier‑one and tier‑two suppliers that feed it — will need to supply validated chain‑of‑custody data, carbon calculations and passport entries for any EV batteries installed in cars destined for the EU market. The Romanian parliament has already signalled that battery industry development is a strategic priority in a resolution adopted on 7 April 2026 calling for measures to attract investment, lower energy costs and strengthen domestic capacity. That policy steer recognises the gap between EU rules and current local capacity.
