EU Deadline Radar

What changes in Germany on 31 December 2027

Several compliance deadlines fall on the same day in Germany. Here is what changes on 31 December 2027 and what your company needs to do about each one.

What changes on this date

EU-wideEcodesign (ESPR)

ESPR: first product-specific ecodesign and Digital Product Passport rules (iron & steel, textiles, tyres, aluminium)

The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 lets the Commission set durability, repairability, recycled-content and information requirements product group by product group, each with a Digital Product Passport. The first acts (steel, then textiles, tyres, aluminium, furniture) are expected in 2026-2028 and will apply after a transition period. Since 19 July 2026 large companies may also no longer destroy unsold clothing and footwear.

Follow the ESPR working plan for your product group. Start collecting product-level data (materials, origin, recycled content, repair info) in a structured way so it can feed a DPP. Set up an unsold-goods policy and tracking – large companies must already disclose discarded unsold products.

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EU-wideLate Payment Regulation

Proposed EU Late Payment Regulation: 30-day maximum payment terms in B2B transactions

The Commission proposed replacing the Late Payment Directive with a regulation capping B2B and B2G payment terms at 30 days, making late-payment interest automatic and creating national enforcement authorities. The file has not progressed in the Council since 2024, so no date is fixed.

No action required yet. Watch the file; if adopted, contracts with payment terms above 30 days would need to be renegotiated and invoicing/dunning systems updated to charge statutory interest automatically.

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