ANTICSS objectives are (i) to assess and define "circumvention" in order to achieve a better product positioning in relation to EU Ecodesign and Energy labelling legislation and relevant harmonised standards; this includes clear delimitation from other effects to facilitate unambiguous public (media) communication; (ii) to collect, analyse and learn from cases of circum¬vention by literature research and dedicated expert interviews, as well as analysing existing EU Ecodesign and Energy labelling legislation and standardisation for possible loopholes. The potential relation between circumvention and "smart" products with specific embedded software will be also addressed. From these findings, conclusions how to better detecting and preventing future circumvention will be derived; (iii) to assess impacts 'if' and 'how much' energy consumption and/or functional performance modifications could be ascribed to circumvention by conducting appliance testing; (iv) to define alternative test procedures or check lists with the aim to by-pass any possible measurement circumvention; based on the results ANTICSS will ensure sustainability beyond the project life by (v) practical capacity building measures for key actors of market surveillance and test laboratories, (vi) supporting communication and collaboration platforms between major stakeholders and (vii) providing policy recommendations for policy makers and standardisation bodies to prevent future circumvention under EU Ecodesign and Energy labelling. ANTICSS will also provide reliability to manufacturers by specifying potentially vague legislation and standards which might be interpreted differently by market actors and some of them taking unfair advantages so far. By overall awareness raising on circumvention among stakeholders, ANTICSS will be supporting an effective EU legislation enforcement and thus increasing acceptance and trust of market actors and civil society into the Ecodesign and Energy labelling legislation.

This proposal proposes a substantial project of a pan-EU market surveillance action to achieve impacts in line with the aims and objectives of the Horizon 2020 ― Work Programme 2018-2020 Secure, Clean and Efficient Energy. The project, if approved, will be the most comprehensive and complex product market surveillance exercise ever undertaken in the EU’s energy efficiency and Ecodesign sector, building on and reinforcing the successes and momentum of the predecessor programmes: Energy Efficiency Compliant Products (ECOPLIANT, EEPLIANT2014 and EEPLIANT2), Market Surveillance Project for TYRES 2015 (MSTyr15). The proposed activities are structured around the needs and priorities identified by the memberships of the Energy Labelling and Eco-design ADCOs. These, without surprise, closely match the requirements set in the Call with ref. no. H2020-IBA-SC3-energy-2018, Exchange of information and best practices, development of common methods, protocols, checklists or IT tools (e.g. web crawlers), execution of joint surveillance activities, strengthening the collaboration with customs authorities, communication, establishment of centres of excellence for product testing, support the development of the Energy Labelling products registration database, input into standardisation, addressing challenging issues like defeat devices, software updates, plausibility testing, support for international alignment of test standards are all covered. The methodology to be used for addressing those requirements will include the delivery of a programme structure consisting of a matrix of activities both horizontal (method development and capacity improvement) and vertical (product inspection and testing). This will result in building further expertise, developing and adopting common best practices and protocols by the Member State Authorities (MSAs). Altogether, Energy Efficiency Compliant Products 3 (EEPLIANT3) is expected to substantially enhance the impacts and the overall effectiveness and efficiency of market surveillance across the European Union (EU). The core objective of this proposal is to continue the transformation of the effectiveness and efficiency of the market surveillance work undertaken across the European Union (EU) in the field of the Energy Labelling Regulation 2017/1369 and the Ecodesign Directive 2009/125. This will be achieved through the coordination of the monitoring, verification and enforcement activities of 24 MSAs and 5 other organisations across the Single Market plus Turkey and through further enhancing their knowledge, skills and experience of doing this type of work. Key to this effort will be the development of strategic IT tools that overlap with every WP in the project and that aim to go beyond business as usual. These tools will help MSAs achieve greater results with the same level of resources, a necessity in light of the doubling of Ecodesign and energy labelling requirements over the past six years without equivalent increases in financing. Furthermore, the project will seek to enhance the visibility and outreach of market surveillance activities by engaging with key stakeholders ― the ADCOs, the EU trade associations of the suppliers of the products to be inspected and consumer organisations. As a result, stakeholders will continue to build confidence in the increasing effectiveness of market surveillance in the EU/EEA. The project directly addresses all the requirements identified in the Call. The Scope calls for strengthening the enforcement of these two pieces of legislation and specifically asks for supporting the monitoring, verification and enforcement activities of MSAs. The main activity described in this proposal is the market surveillance of specific product sectors and the (further) development of tools – including innovative IT-tools – and methodologies in support of the MSAs. This work is to be undertaken by the responsible enforcement authorities in the Member States (MS) in liaison