COMPLIANCE DEEP DIVE
Will Clothes Need a CE Mark? ESPR Conformity Assessment, the EU Declaration of Conformity and What the 2026 Digitalisation Deal Changes
Not today. The CE marking may be affixed only to products for which EU harmonisation legislation provides for it, so a garment that falls under no such legislation must not carry one. That changes once an ESPR delegated act for textiles applies: the brand will have to carry out a conformity assessment, keep technical documentation, draw up an EU declaration of conformity and affix the CE marking, unless the act sets alternative marking rules.
No such act exists yet, for clothing or for any other product. This guide covers the ESPR conformity rules, the link between the declaration and the digital product passport, fashion items that are already personal protective equipment, and what the provisional 2026 digitalisation deal would change. That deal is not yet law.
Art. 30(2)
Regulation (EC) No 765/2008: the CE marking only on products for which EU harmonisation legislation provides for it, and on no other product.
None yet
ESPR delegated acts setting ecodesign requirements under Article 4, for any product (checked on 20 October 2026).
Q3–Q4 2027
Indicative adoption of the ESPR delegated act for textiles (Commission DPP timeline).
18 months
Minimum time from a delegated act's entry into force to its date of application, subject to the exceptions in ESPR Article 4(4).
1. The short answer
Today, Article 30(2) of Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 provides that the CE marking "shall be affixed only to products to which its affixing is provided for by specific Community harmonisation legislation, and shall not be affixed to any other product". Unless a garment falls under such legislation, as personal protective equipment does (section 5), it must not carry the marking. ESPR can become that legislation for clothing, but only through a delegated act adopted under its Article 4.
Once such an act applies, ESPR Article 27(2) requires manufacturers whose product has passed the conformity assessment to draw up an EU declaration of conformity and "affix the CE marking in accordance with Article 46". It goes on: "However, where the Commission has specified alternative rules pursuant to Article 4(6), point (d), the manufacturer shall affix conformity marking in accordance with those rules". Such rules are for products "not subject to the requirement to affix the CE marking before being placed on the market or put into service" (Article 4(6)(d)); Article 47 adds the criteria the Commission must weigh. The CE marking is the default; another marking applies only if the product's delegated act sets one. What the textile act will choose is not known.
As of 20 October 2026, no delegated act setting ecodesign requirements has been adopted under ESPR Article 4 for any product. For textiles, the Commission's indicative DPP timeline (page last updated on 15 October 2026) places adoption in Q3–Q4 2027. Under Article 4(4), "The date of application of a delegated act shall not be earlier than 18 months from its entry into force", except in duly justified cases and in cases of partial repeal or amendment.
| Topic | Today | Once the ESPR textile act applies |
|---|---|---|
| CE marking | Must not be affixed unless EU harmonisation legislation provides for it (Regulation (EC) No 765/2008, Article 30(2)) | The default, unless the act sets alternative marking rules (ESPR Articles 27(2), 4(6)(d) and 47) |
| Conformity assessment | None under ESPR | Module A or one of modules B to H1, as the act specifies (Article 4(5)) |
| Technical documentation and declaration | No ESPR obligation | Drawn up before the product is placed on the market; kept for 10 years unless the act sets another period (Articles 27(2), 27(3) and 44) |
2. What the brand will have to do
The duties fall on the manufacturer: the person that manufactures a product or has it designed or manufactured, and "markets that product under their name or trademark" (Article 2(42)). For a brand selling under its own label, that is the brand, not the contract factory. Our guide DPP for Manufacturers and Private Label Producers covers who is responsible for what in private-label production.
Each delegated act specifies the conformity assessment procedure "from either module A set out in Annex IV to this Regulation or one of the modules B to H1 set out in Annex II to Decision No 768/2008/EC" (Article 4(5)). Under Module A, internal production control, the manufacturer ensures and declares "on its sole responsibility" that the product meets the act (Annex IV, point 1); no notified body is involved. Procedures built on modules B to H1 involve a notified body. In choosing, the Commission must consider whether a module is appropriate and "proportionate to the public interest pursued" (Article 43(1)(a)); which one the textile act will specify is not known.
The technical documentation must exist before the product is placed on the market (Article 27(2)). Annex IV, point 2, lists its minimum content wherever applicable, including a general description and the intended use, design and manufacturing drawings, the standards or specifications applied, "the results of measurements carried out in relation to ecodesign requirements", test reports and a copy of the information provided under Article 7. Changes that affect conformity require a reassessment (Article 27(4)).
The EU declaration of conformity follows the model structure in Annex V and must be continuously updated and translated as the Member State requires (Article 44(2)). Module A requires "a written declaration of conformity for each product model" (Annex IV, point 4). Where several EU acts require a declaration, "a single EU declaration of conformity shall be drawn up in respect of all such Union legal acts" (Article 44(3)). Annex V lists ten items, among them the product's unique identification, the manufacturer's name and address, the standards or specifications applied and the identification and signature of the person empowered to bind the manufacturer.
The CE marking goes on the product or, where that is not possible or not warranted, on the packaging and accompanying documents (Article 46(1)), and "The CE marking shall be affixed before the product is placed on the market or put into service" (Article 46(2)). The technical documentation and the declaration are kept for 10 years after the product is placed on the market or put into service, "unless a different period has been specified in that delegated act" (Article 27(3)).
| Operator | Conformity duties once a delegated act applies | ESPR |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Conformity assessment, technical documentation, declaration, CE or alternative marking; keeps the documents for 10 years unless the act sets another period | Article 27(2) and (3) |
| Authorised representative (optional, written mandate) | Keeps the declaration and technical documentation available to the authorities for 10 years unless the act sets another period; cannot be mandated to draw up the technical documentation | Article 28(1) and (2)(a) |
| Importer | Before placing on the market, ensures the conformity assessment and technical documentation exist and the product bears the CE or alternative marking; keeps a copy of the declaration for 10 years unless the act sets another period | Article 29(2) and (7) |
| Distributor | Before making the product available, verifies "the CE marking in accordance with Articles 45 and 46 or the conformity marking adopted in accordance with Article 4(6), point (d)" and, where relevant, the label or passport link | Article 30(2)(a) |
3. The declaration of conformity and the passport
ESPR does not itself require the declaration to be included in the digital product passport; it leaves that to each delegated act. Annex III says the acts "shall specify what data are to or can be included in the digital product passport", and point (e) of its list is compliance documentation "such as the declaration of conformity, technical documentation or conformity certificates". Whether a clothing passport must or can contain the declaration is for the textile act to decide.
ESPR already requires an electronic contact channel for products covered by a delegated act. Manufacturers must give their name, registered trade name or registered trade mark, "postal address at which, and electronic means of communication through which, they can be contacted", on the public part of the passport where applicable, and on the product or, where that is not possible, on its packaging or in an accompanying document (Article 27(6)); importers likewise (Article 29(3)). The digitalisation deal leaves both provisions unchanged.
The technical side of the passport is covered in our guides The Eight EU DPP Standards and Choosing a DPP Service Provider.
4. What the 2026 digitalisation deal changes (provisional)
As of 20 October 2026, this is a provisional agreement: not adopted and not in the Official Journal. The underlying Commission proposal, COM(2025) 504 of 21 May 2025, covers ESPR, the PPE Regulation and other product regulations. Council and Parliament negotiators reached the agreement on 9 June 2026; Coreper confirmed the compromise text on 26 June 2026 and Parliament's internal market committee (IMCO) approved it on 14 July 2026. The Legislative Observatory shows "Awaiting Parliament's position in 1st reading", with an indicative plenary date of 23 November 2026; Council approval and publication would follow. The agreed text (PE790.900) exists in English only; the wording quoted below is that provisional text.
For ESPR, Article 7 of the agreed text would:
| Change | ESPR provision | Agreed wording or effect |
|---|---|---|
| Define a digital contact | New Article 2(46a) | "any up-to-date and freely accessible online communication channel such as email addresses through which economic operators can be contacted without the need to register or to download or use additional applications specific to the economic operator"; recital 9 names an email address or a website contact form and excludes automatic replies, chatbots, fax numbers and telephone lines |
| Add it to the declaration of conformity | Annex V, point 2 | "Name, postal address and digital contact of the manufacturer and, where applicable, the manufacturer’s authorised representative" (today: name and address) |
| Make conformity documents for authorities electronic-only | Articles 27(10), 28(2)(c), 29(8) and 30(5) | "in electronic form, as soon as possible and in any event within 15 days of receipt of a request by that authority" (manufacturers and importers; likewise for authorised representatives and distributors). The 15-day deadline is already in ESPR. For manufacturers, importers and distributors the paper option goes; for authorised representatives, whose duty today names no form, the electronic form is added. |
| Make supplier and customer data electronic-only | Article 36(2) | Names, quantities and exact models, "in electronic form within 15 days" of a request by the market surveillance authority |
| Make unsold-products information electronic-only | Article 24(2) | Information on discarded unsold consumer products, within 30 days as today; not part of the conformity file |
These changes would apply 30 months after the regulation's entry into force, which would be the twentieth day after its publication in the Official Journal (agreed Article 9); products placed on the market before that application date could still be made available (Article 8). Point (6b), an extension under ESPR Article 79 for certain energy-related products, would apply from entry into force; it does not concern textiles.
Apart from the contact item in Annex V, the agreed text does not amend ESPR's rules on conformity assessment, the declaration or the CE marking (Articles 27(2) and 44 to 47, Annex IV), nor Article 27(6), and, unlike the proposal, it does not amend Regulation (EC) No 765/2008. It also does not make the ESPR declaration electronic-only: recital 6 states the aim that "the EU declaration of conformity should be drawn up only in electronic form", but the operative wording to that effect is inserted in other regulations, such as the PPE Regulation, not in ESPR.
5. Fashion lines that are already PPE
Some fashion items are CE-marked today as personal protective equipment under Regulation (EU) 2016/425, which covers "equipment designed and manufactured to be worn or held by a person for protection against one or more risks to that person's health or safety" (Article 3(1)(a)). PPE designed for private use against "atmospheric conditions that are not of an extreme nature" is excluded (Article 2(2)(c)), so everyday rainwear designed for private use falls outside the Regulation.
Category I in Annex I includes "damage to the eyes due to exposure to sunlight (other than during observation of the sun)", the risk sunglasses address. Sunglasses, high-visibility clothing and safety footwear are not named as such in the Regulation; harmonised standards for them are listed in Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/1279, such as EN ISO 12312-1:2022 (sunglasses for general use), EN ISO 20471:2013 (high visibility clothing) and EN ISO 20345:2022 (safety footwear). Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/1971 added EN ISO 24232:2025 on protective clothing against rain and deleted the row for EN 343:2019 from that list.
PPE already follows the same pattern: after the conformity assessment for the risk category, manufacturers "draw up the EU declaration of conformity referred to in Article 15 and affix the CE marking referred to in Article 16" (Article 8(2)). Category I uses internal production control (module A); Categories II and III require EU type-examination (module B) plus a production module (Article 19). The declaration is supplied with the PPE or at an internet address given in the instructions (Article 8(8)).
Under the provisional deal (Article 3 of the agreed text), PPE manufacturers would "draw up the EU declaration of conformity referred to in Article 15, in electronic form" and provide "the internet address or machine-readable code through which the EU declaration of conformity can be directly accessed" with the PPE (Article 8(2) and (8)). Instructions could be electronic, but for PPE intended for, or foreseeably used by, consumers the instructions and information "which are related to the safe use of the PPE" would still have to be provided in paper or made visible on the packaging, and end-users could request a paper copy at the time of purchase or "up to 24 months after that purchase" (Article 8(7)). Where other Union law applicable to the PPE requires compliance information, the EU declaration of conformity or the instructions to be included in a digital product passport, the declaration information and any electronic instructions would be provided only in that passport (Article 15(5)).
ESPR does not mention PPE, and we found no EU source on whether the textile act will cover it. If both applied to one product, a single declaration would cover all the acts concerned (ESPR Article 44(3), PPE Regulation Article 15(3)).
6. What to do now
| Step | Why |
|---|---|
| Map your product lines, including PPE such as sunglasses, high-visibility garments or safety footwear | PPE needs a declaration and the CE marking today; other clothing only once a textile act covering it applies, with the marking that act specifies (CE by default). |
| Confirm who is the manufacturer for each line | Whoever markets the product under its name or trademark carries the conformity duties (Articles 2(42), 27 and 34(a)). |
| Set up a technical-documentation structure per product model | Annex IV, point 2, sets the content; the file is kept for 10 years unless the act sets another period (Article 27(3)). |
| Build a declaration template on the Annex V items | Module A requires one per product model (Annex IV, point 4); a single declaration covers all EU acts that require one (Article 44(3)). |
| Plan a digital contact (provisional) | The agreed text would add it to Annex V, point 2; ESPR already requires an electronic means of communication on the product once a delegated act applies (Article 27(6)). |
| Prepare supplier and customer data for authority requests | Names, quantities and exact models within 15 days of a request (Article 36(2)); electronic only under the agreed text. |
| Watch the textile act and the digitalisation deal | The act decides the marking, the modules and whether the declaration goes into the passport; the deal awaits Parliament's vote (indicative 23 November 2026). |
DPP AUDIT
Get your conformity file ready before the textile act lands.
We map your product lines, roles and supplier data against the ESPR conformity rules, so the technical documentation and declaration of conformity can be built from day one. Under NDA.
Start Your DPP Audit7. Dates to watch
| Date | What | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 9 June 2026 | Provisional agreement on the digitalisation deal between Council and Parliament negotiators | Council press release, 9 June 2026 |
| 26 June 2026 | Coreper confirms the compromise text; offer letter to the European Parliament | Council information note ST 10980/26 |
| 14 July 2026 | IMCO approves the agreed text | Legislative Observatory, 2025/0134(COD) |
| 23 November 2026 (indicative) | Parliament plenary sitting, first reading | Legislative Observatory forecast, as of 20 October 2026 |
| Q3–Q4 2027 (indicative) | Adoption of the ESPR delegated act for textiles | Commission DPP timeline |
| Entry into force of the textile act + at least 18 months | Earliest date of application, except in duly justified cases or partial repeal or amendment | ESPR Article 4(4) |
| Entry into force of the digitalisation regulation + 30 months | Agreed ESPR changes (digital contact, electronic-only documents) and the main agreed PPE changes apply | Agreed text, Article 9 (provisional) |
Frequently asked questions
Do clothes need a CE mark today?
Will clothes need a CE mark under ESPR?
Will brands need a notified body?
Does the digitalisation deal make the declaration of conformity digital?
Are sunglasses or safety shoes covered differently?
Sources
- ESPRRegulation (EU) 2024/1781 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 June 2024 establishing a framework for the setting of ecodesign requirements for sustainable products, amending Directive (EU) 2020/1828 and Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 and repealing Directive 2009/125/EC (OJ L, 2024/1781, 28.6.2024). Articles 2, 4, 24, 27 to 30, 34, 36, 43 to 47 and 79; Annexes III, IV and V. Read in the Official Journal version; the corrigenda of 7 August 2024 (Articles 77 and 78) and 28 April 2025 do not affect the provisions cited. CELEX 32024R1781 ↗
- Regulation (EC) No 765/2008Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 July 2008 setting out the requirements for accreditation and repealing Regulation (EEC) No 339/93 (OJ L 218, 13.8.2008, p. 30), title as amended by Regulation (EU) 2019/1020; consolidated version of 16 July 2021. Article 30. CELEX 02008R0765-20210716 ↗
- Decision No 768/2008/ECDecision No 768/2008/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 July 2008 on a common framework for the marketing of products, and repealing Council Decision 93/465/EEC (OJ L 218, 13.8.2008, p. 82). Annex II (conformity assessment modules). CELEX 32008D0768 ↗
- Regulation (EU) 2016/425Regulation (EU) 2016/425 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 March 2016 on personal protective equipment and repealing Council Directive 89/686/EEC (OJ L 81, 31.3.2016, p. 51), consolidated version of 29 May 2026. Articles 2, 3, 8, 15 and 19; Annex I. CELEX 02016R0425-20260529 ↗
- Implementing Decisions (EU) 2026/1279 and 2026/1971Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/1279 of 12 June 2026 on harmonised standards for personal protective equipment drafted in support of Regulation (EU) 2016/425 of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2023/941 (OJ L, 2026/1279, 16.6.2026), Annex I; amended by Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/1971 of 3 September 2026 (OJ L, 2026/1971, 4.9.2026), which, among other changes, adds EN ISO 24232:2025 and deletes EN 343:2019 (Annex I). CELEX 32026D1279 ↗ · CELEX 32026D1971 ↗
- COM(2025) 504European Commission, Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulations (EU) No 765/2008, (EU) 2016/424, (EU) 2016/425, (EU) 2016/426, (EU) 2023/1230, (EU) 2023/1542 and (EU) 2024/1781 as regards digitalisation and common specifications, COM(2025) 504 final, 21.5.2025. CELEX 52025PC0504 ↗
- Provisional agreementEuropean Parliament, Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, provisional agreement resulting from interinstitutional negotiations, PE790.900 (IMCO_AG(2026)790900) of 26 June 2026: recitals 6 and 9; Articles 3, 7, 8 and 9. English only; not adopted. The same compromise text is annexed to Council information note ST 10980/26 of 26 June 2026 (Coreper confirmation and offer letter to the European Parliament). europarl.europa.eu ↗ · consilium.europa.eu ↗
- Council of the EUCouncil of the European Union, press release of 9 June 2026, Simplification: Council and Parliament strike deal to help growing businesses thrive and accelerate digitalisation. consilium.europa.eu ↗
- Legislative ObservatoryEuropean Parliament, Legislative Observatory (OEIL), procedure file 2025/0134(COD): status, key events and forecasts. oeil.europarl.europa.eu ↗
- European CommissionEuropean Commission, Digital Product Passport: indicative DPP timeline (page last updated on 15 October 2026). single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu ↗
The legal acts were read in the Official Journal versions published by the Publications Office of the European Union (EUR-Lex), Regulation (EU) 2016/425 also in its consolidated version and Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 in its consolidated version; consolidations are documentation tools without legal effect. The Publications Office records were searched for later acts, amendments and corrigenda on 20.10.2026. The provisional agreement text, the Legislative Observatory and the European Commission page are provisional or working sources and were accessed on 20.10.2026 in English; the provisional agreement text exists in English only. This is general information, not legal, financial or investment advice.