New EU End-of-Life Vehicles Regulation – a challenge for the automotive industry

On 24 July 2026, Regulation (EU) 2026/1738 on circularity requirements for vehicle design and on management of end-of-life vehicles (“End-of-Life Vehicles Regulation” or the “Regulation”) was published in the Official Journal of the European Union (see OJ EU L 2026/1738).

I. Background

The End-of-Life Vehicles (or ELV) Regulation will replace the current End-of-Life Vehicles Directive 2000/53/EC (“End-of-Life Vehicles Directive”) and the 3R Type-Approval Directive 2005/64/EC, bringing these areas together in a single, directly applicable EU instrument. This is just one of many statutes that are part of the Green Deal regulatory approach, such as the EU Batteries Regulation 2023/1542 and the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation 2025/40 (see our news article of 17 December 2024). Like these new statutes, the End-of-Life Vehicles Regulation develops what was previously a primarily waste-law framework into far-reaching product regulation.

II. Expanded and more differentiated material scope

Up to now, the End-of-Life Directive and the German End-of-Life Vehicles Ordinance (Altfahrzeugverordnung) (“German ELV Ordinance”) have essentially covered passenger cars in category M₁ and light commercial vehicles in catgeory N₁, and in very specific cases three-wheeled motor vehicles. The EU End-of-Life Vehicles Regulation significantly expands the scope of application, now extending it to include heavy-duty vehicles in categories M₂, M₃, N₂, N₃ and O as well as all trailers in category O. Two-wheeled motorcycles and three- and four-wheeled motor vehicles in classes L3e to L7e are also covered, albeit with substantial restrictions in some cases.

The new Regulation also includes a complex system of exemptions and counter-exemptions. This means that certain special-purpose vehicles are partially excluded from its scope, while vehicles of historical interest are fully exempted, for example. In addition, a number of provisions are not intended to apply to heavy-duty vehicles and trailers.

Overall, a wide range of stakeholders will face extensive environmental obligations. Manufacturers should therefore pay close attention to the detailed system of exemptions and counter-exemptions.

III. New product obligations: recycled content targets and recyclability

The Regulation starts by setting out comprehensive product requirements concerning the reusability, recyclability and recoverability of vehicles (Article 4) as well as requirements relating to materials used in vehicles. These include minimum recycled content for plastics (Article 6) and bans (to a large extent already in place) on particularly critical substances such as lead (Article 5). Furthermore, certain vehicle components will have to be easily removable for treatment facilities to enable recovery (Article 7).

All these requirements are now integrated into type-approval legislation, as was already the case under the 3R Type-Approval Directive, in particular under Regulation (EU) 2018/858.

IV. Specific producer obligations on recyclability: circularity strategy and Circularity Vehicle Passport

Articles 9 to 13 of the Regulation set out further obligations for vehicle manufacturers to ensure that vehicles are recyclable and sustainably designed. These include, on the one hand, information and labelling requirements and, on the other, the obligation to draw up a circularity strategy for vehicles (see 1. below) and a Digital Circularity Vehicle Passport (see 2. below).

1. Circularity strategy

The first notable aspect is that from 1 September 2029 each manufacturer will have to draw up a “circularity strategy” setting out the measures being taken to comply with manufacturers’ obligations. The rationale behind this requirement is to ensure that manufacturers actually take the necessary measures to meet the circularity requirements.

In contrast to the Commission’s draft, which required such a strategy for every type-approved vehicle, and the Council’s proposal to base the requirements on vehicle class, the final version focuses on the manufacturer level. This is a more pragmatic approach that at least to some extent reduces the administrative burden.

2. Circularity Vehicle Passport

The new Digital Circularity Vehicle Passport is another notable example: as in much of the recent environmental legislation, the Regulation provides the circularity passport for vehicles as an additional tool designed to make certain information digitally accessible. This has precedent in the Ecodesign Regulation, which introduces a general digital product passport as a mandatory requirement for a wide range of products. The Batteries Regulation likewise provides for a unique digital product passport in the form of the battery passport.

This trend has already spread to vehicles since the Euro 7 Regulation (EU) 2024/1257 and the Environmental Vehicle Passport (EVP) regulated in Article 3(68). The Digital Circularity Vehicle Passport, which will become mandatory from 1 September 2032, will contain circular economy-related information about vehicles such as details on which parts, components and materials have been removed and replaced. The aim is to facilitate the treatment of end-of-life vehicles by providing this information in digital form.

V. Extended producer responsibility

The concept of “extended producer responsibility” (EPR), which is reflected in its basic form in Articles 8 and 8a of the Waste Framework Directive and is rooted in early versions of the Waste Framework Directive, bears similarities to the German concept of product responsibility under section 23 of the German Circular Economy Act (Kreislaufwirtschaftsgesetz). Under it, every producer has additional responsibilities also encompassing taking back and recovering products and waste. The concept has also been introduced in numerous specific directives and regulations on this basis, usually implemented at national level through detailed rules and regulations of the EU Member States.

In line with this, from 1 September 2029 manufacturers will be subject to an explicitly designated “extended producer responsibility” (from Article 16) which goes beyond the previous framework set out in the End-of-Life Vehicles Directive and German ELV Ordinance and largely aligns the obligations with the latest rules on batteries and packaging. Vehicle manufacturers will thus be obliged to ensure the proper collection and treatment of the vehicles they have placed on the market at the end of their life, as well as their reuse, recycling and recovery by waste management operators. They are expressly permitted to meet these obligations by appointing “producer responsibility organisations” (PROs); EU Member States may also make such appointments mandatory (Article 17).

Alongside this, Member States will have to establish registers of producers by 31 August 2029. After that date, only registered producers will be allowed to place vehicles on the market (Article 19).

VI. Trade in used vehicles and vehicle exports

When vehicles change hands within the EU, economic operators will in future be obliged to document that the vehicle is not an end-of-life vehicle. Private sellers will only have to provide this documentation if the vehicle has been classified as a total economic loss or if the sale is conducted entirely on an online platform without a physical handover.

With regard to exports, from 1 September 2031 it will only be possible to export used vehicles if they are not end-of-life vehicles and are essentially roadworthy.

VII. Date of application

Like other recent product-related regulations, the Regulation also contains detailed provisions regarding its temporary scope of application. While the Regulation generally applies from 1 September 2028 as specified in Article 59(2), first subparagraph, the second subparagraph of this provision provides for separate arrangements for a whole range of requirements. On top of this, various articles of the Regulation contain additional provisions; for example, the requirements on reusability set out in Article 4(1) of the Regulation will not take effect until 1 September 2032.

VIII. Summary: need for action

The End-of-Life Vehicles Regulation directly addresses both manufacturers as well as importers and distributors (the latter two as potential “producers” within the legal definition in Article 3(23)). Yet the Regulation is of course of considerable importance for suppliers. Although the phased applicability of the individual obligations allows for some lead time, the requirements call for stakeholders to prepare systematically and at relatively short notice so that they are able to meet the various obligations once they come into force. Our team would be happy to advise you on how to strategically implement the Regulation and to work with you to develop a compliance roadmap suited to your needs.