Energy class, the EU rejects Dyson’s appeal. The company: “We will appeal”

The General Court of the European Union rejected a claim by Dyson against the European Commission, in which the company was asking for 176 million euros, that is, the damage it would have suffered as a result of an EU regulation that provides for a standardized test method for calculating the energy consumption of vacuum cleaners, which would have penalized bagless appliances. Just like those produced by Dyson.

Since September 2014, all vacuum cleaners sold in the EU must have a label indicating the consumption and energy class, the calculation methods of which were specified by the Commission in a regulation of 2013: considering that this test method penalizes its products compared to bagged vacuum cleaners, Dyson asked the EU Court to cancel it. In 2015 the appeal was rejected, that sentence was then challenged and annulled and the case was referred back to the same EU Court. In November 2018, the Court annulled the 2013 regulation, since the test method that involved the use of an empty container did not reflect conditions as close as possible to the actual ones of use.

According to Dyson, the problem is that some manufacturers (especially rivals Bosch e Siemens) would have introduced a system in their products to automatically adjust the motor speed when the bag is full and keep the suction power intact. This, however, would imply an increase in consumption, while the energy class shown on the label is assigned on the basis of tests carried out with an empty bag: in this way, however, a 750W appliance could consume up to 1600W, thus passing from class A to D or even to E.

Dyson’s position: “We will appeal”
However, the appeal by Dyson and other companies was rejected by the Luxembourg courts because “by adopting the standardized test method based on the use of an empty container, the Commission did not manifestly and seriously violate the limits of its discretion nor has it committed a sufficiently serious violation of the principles of equal treatment and good administration “.

The English company already has announced plans to appeal, because “the Tribunal ignored Dyson’s evidence and always favored German manufacturers. Now they are trying to argue that the charged dust tests of vacuum cleaners are inaccurate: this is simply not true. It is a devious and devious way to avoid accepting The Commission’s errors. The General Court chose to discard the previous decision of the European Court of Justice, which determined in 2017 that the Commission violated its law and ignored Dyson’s evidence. Now the Court is arguing that it was a mistake and not obvious enough for them to justify the damage. It is an insult to the millions of buyers who have been duped and the substantial damage caused to Dyson – explained a spokesperson for the company – We disagree with the claim that there was a doubt about the powder test, as these Testing methods were adopted decades ago by international standards organizations and applied by test houses, laboratories, advertising standards bodies and courts across Europe and the world without a doubt. This ruling sets a very worrying precedent for future regulations across Europe and risks deceiving consumers once again. Bad regulation stifles innovation, affects jobs and slows growth “.