§ Mr. GummerTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what discussions he has had with the UK's EU partners about altering the potentially misleading energy use measurement for domestic refrigerators. [119292]
§ Mr. MeacherThe European Commission and member states have held discussions with manufacturers' representatives about methods for more consistent reporting of the efficiency performance of several product types covered by the EU energy label regime, including domestic refrigerators, and this has resulted in a protocol applied by the industry since the end of 1998. In the particular case of domestic refrigerators, a further 451W important development has been the introduction of minimum standards requiring the removal of less efficient appliances (with an energy label rating of "D" or below) from the EU market from September last year.