The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre has published a questionnaire for the steel sector to assess digital maturity in relation to the Digital Product Passport foreseen under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation. As reported by Federacciai, the questionnaire is intended for companies producing intermediate and finished steel products.
The aim is to collect information on the procedures companies currently use to gather, store, manage, standardise and exchange DPP-relevant data across the value chain. The exercise focuses in particular on digitalisation, interoperability, data quality and traceability, as well as other factors that may affect the practical implementation of future DPP requirements for steel products.
Federacciai is encouraging companies to consider taking part so the JRC can obtain a realistic picture of current industry practice and the feasibility of possible developments linked to DPP implementation under ESPR. The JRC has requested completion by 28 October. The association also asks companies to send a PDF copy of the completed questionnaire to its technical department in order to build as representative a picture as possible for future discussions with the JRC and the European Commission.
According to the information provided, the JRC says the responses will be used solely for research purposes within the current study. Answers are expected to be analysed in aggregated and anonymised form, and individual company responses will not be disclosed. The JRC also states that the survey should be regarded as separate from the ESPR legislative process, because it deals with operational and management issues around the DPP rather than setting future ESPR requirements for steel products.
Those requirements will instead be defined in a Commission delegated act that is currently being prepared and, according to Federacciai, is expected by the end of 2026 or, more likely, in early 2027. Among other points, that act will also define the DPP requirements applicable to the steel products concerned. Federacciai further notes that the obligation to provide a DPP will not apply immediately: economic operators will have an 18-month period after the delegated act enters into force to adapt.
The JRC’s preparatory work also includes a proposal on DPP content that is reflected in the questionnaire. The main information categories mentioned include technical and material data, including the Mill Test Certificate, material-compliance data on substances of concern, environmental data relating to product carbon footprint, and data on recycled content. For producers and downstream industrial customers, these areas indicate where future value-chain data organisation may need to develop.
