What happens if I don't have a battery passport?

No passport means: not demonstrably compliant

A battery without a digital product passport does not meet the requirements that the Battery Regulation sets for placing it on the market. This affects not only the battery itself, but the entire process surrounding it: sales, distribution and making it available to a user. The Regulation treats the absence of a passport as a form of non-compliance, comparable to other cases where a product does not meet the stated requirements. Market operators — manufacturers, importers and distributors — can be held accountable by the national market surveillance authority. What happens in practice depends on how that authority acts, but the Regulation itself provides the framework: corrective measures, and where Member States have specified this, sanctions.

Which batteries this applies to, and which not yet

The obligation to have a digital product passport applies to the battery categories designated by the Regulation: EV batteries, batteries for light electric vehicles (such as e-bikes and scooters) and industrial batteries above 2 kWh. For these categories, the provisions on non-compliance and corrective measures in Articles 79 to 84 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 apply. Batteries that fall outside these categories — small portable batteries for example — are subject to different requirements and do not fall under this passport obligation. It is also important to distinguish between "not having a passport" and "having a passport with errors in it": both can lead to corrective measures, but the Regulation distinguishes situations in which a battery poses a risk from situations in which there is merely administrative non-compliance. This distinction also determines which instrument a surveillance authority will use.

From 18 February 2027 the obligation applies, not before

The obligation to have a digital product passport will come into force on 18 February 2027, as set out in Article 77 of the Battery Regulation. Until that date, there is no legal obligation to have a passport and therefore no non-compliance can arise on this specific point. This does not mean there is nothing to do until then: compiling a passport, gathering the correct data from the manufacturer or supplier and setting up the QR data carrier takes time, and that time is running now. What exactly happens after 18 February 2027 in the absence of a passport — which surveillance authority acts, with which measure, within what timeframe — is not specified in detail in the Regulation itself; this will also be determined by how Member States have organised their market surveillance and sanctions regime.

What this means for those placing or about to place a battery on the market now

For an importer, battery trader or machinery manufacturer placing batteries above 2 kWh, e-bike or scooter batteries on the market, the first step is to determine whether the product falls under one of the designated categories. If that is the case, the second step is to map out which data are already available from the manufacturer or your own organisation, and which are still missing. The third step is to have the passport actually drawn up and hosted, including the QR data carrier that is linked to the product or packaging — this is a process that does not happen overnight, especially not with a large assortment or dependence on data from abroad. Anyone who waits until just before 18 February 2027 risks that the preparation time will be insufficient when the obligation takes effect. For anyone acting before that date, no fine or sanction applies on this point, but anyone who waits until after that date risks a battery without a passport being marked as non-compliant, with the consequences that articles 79 to 84 attach to it — ranging from having to provide missing information to further corrective measures when a supervisory authority decides to do so.

The legal basis: articles 79-84 and article 93 of the Regulation

The provisions on what happens in case of non-compliance are set out in articles 79 to 84 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1542. These articles describe how batteries that pose a risk are dealt with, non-compliant batteries in general, and what corrective measures are associated with them — from having documentation adjusted to having products withdrawn from the market. Article 93 of the same Regulation regulates sanctions: it stipulates that Member States must lay down rules on sanctions for infringement of the Regulation, and that these sanctions must be effective, proportionate and dissuasive. The Regulation thus establishes the framework, but the concrete implementation — what amount, what procedure, what authority — differs per Member State and is not described in the Regulation itself.

Anyone wishing to determine whether a specific product falls under the passport obligation can best do so by checking it against the categories and thresholds in the Regulation itself, and in case of doubt consult the official texts of articles 77 and 79 to 84. For anyone wishing to start preparations: mapping out which data are already present and which still need to be requested from the manufacturer or importer is a step that can be taken now, regardless of what supervision will look like later.

What this is based on

The Regulation itself is on EUR-Lex. We refer for each statement; you need not believe us.

What you need to do concretely

What is expected of you

The Battery Regulation links the digital product passport to placing the battery on the market: no passport means the battery does not meet the conditions to be sold. What this concretely means breaks down into a few distinct obligations.

Ensure the battery does not enter commerce without a passport

For the party placing the battery on the EU market for the first time, the passport is part of what makes a battery "compliant", alongside, for example, CE marking. For a company with 10 to 100 employees, this means in practice that procurement and compliance cannot work independently of each other: adding a new battery to the product range without arranging the passport is an operational error, not a matter of "we'll sort that out later". Anyone in doubt about whether that role applies to their own company can verify this against who is responsible for the battery passport? and against am I an importer or manufacturer under the Battery Regulation?

Respond to non-conformity when it is identified

Articles 79 to 84 of the Regulation describe how batteries that pose a risk or do not meet the requirements are handled: there is a process of identification, corrective measures, and if necessary, withdrawal of the battery from the market. For a medium-sized company, this means there must be someone who knows which file belongs to which battery, so that when a supervisory authority makes an enquiry, they receive a file without delay rather than a delayed response. That file often starts with the question of what role the company itself plays in the supply chain — a distributor has different starting points than a party that imports itself, as described in what obligations does a battery distributor have?

Record which part of the passport each party in the supply chain provides

A battery digital product passport does not come from a single source: data on materials, origin, performance and circularity can come from the manufacturer, the importer or an intermediary. For a company selling batteries under its own brand, responsibility for that data typically lies closer to home than when the brand is that of a third party; see I sell batteries under my own brand — what obligations do I incur? If you work via a foreign manufacturer, it is advisable to establish in advance who actually compiles and hosts the passport, as explained in my manufacturer is outside the European Union — who arranges the battery passport then?

Where things go wrong in practice

A number of recurring situations show where "doing nothing" arises in practice, often not from unwillingness but from unclear responsibility for who should arrange something.

An importer adds a new line of e-bikes to its product range and assumes that the Asian manufacturer has already set up the passport because the declaration of conformity is present. Upon enquiry, it turns out the manufacturer has never heard of the passport.

A webshop sells batteries for light means of transport from its own stock and assumes, because the brand is that of a third party, that that third party is responsible. In practice, however, the webshop is the party placing the battery on the EU market for the first time; what that means for a webshop with its own stock is explained at what must I arrange as a webshop if I sell batteries from my own stock?

A machine manufacturer incorporates industrial batteries above 2 kWh into its own product and treats the passport as a component that "can be added later", while the product is already being delivered to customers.

A company sells via an online marketplace and thinks the marketplace takes on the obligations, whereas the marketplace usually has a different role than that of the party placing the battery on the market; see what does the Battery Regulation mean if I sell via an online marketplace?

A company arranged the passport for the first batch of batteries but not for a variant added later, with the result that part of the product range is effectively sold without a passport without this being noticed within the company.

In none of these situations is there a deliberate choice to ignore the rules — it is rather a matter of role confusion: nobody has explicitly recorded who should arrange the passport for this specific battery.

What you can record

A number of documents and agreements make it demonstrable that the product passport is properly arranged, and make it easier to respond quickly to questions from a supervisory authority or trading partner:

An overview per product line of who places the battery on the EU market for the first time, and thus who has the product passport compiled — with a fixed reference to the own role definition, for example via what does the term 'economic operator' mean in battery legislation
A file per battery type with the underlying data (materials, origin, performance) and the source thereof, so that in case of a question about non-conformity it is immediately clear which data comes from whom
Recording of the declaration of conformity and CE marking that belong to the battery, with a clear link to the product passport; see which declaration of conformity and CE marking apply to a battery?
A registration as a producer where applicable, including the moment when this was done; see must I register as a battery manufacturer, and where?
Agreements with suppliers or manufacturers outside the EU about who supplies the product passport, recorded in writing so that this does not remain merely assumed verbally
An appointment of an authorized representative where required, with the date and justification of that choice; see when must I appoint a designated representative for batteries?
A log of changes to the assortment, so that new variants or models do not fall outside the product passport control

This recording is not an end in itself, but the difference between being able to demonstrate that the product passport is properly arranged and having to sort out afterwards what exactly was agreed — at a moment when there is less room for that.

This is not legal advice. This page provides general information about the legislation that this platform covers. We do not know your situation. If in doubt about your own case, consult a lawyer or the competent supervisory authority.

Written with AI based on the sources above, checked by a human on 2026-08-22. Is something wrong? Let us know — corrections take priority.