Foundations · 02 of 07
4 min read
The dates that matter
The regulatory timeline feels alarming when you read it as a set of deadlines. Read as readiness, it becomes a list of work you can take in instalments.
What is already in force
The ESPR umbrella regulation has been in force since July 2024, and the EU's 2025 working plan places textiles in its first group of priority products. The direction is settled. The EU's central passport registry, a directory of identifiers rather than a data host, went live in July 2026. What is still being written is the textile detail: which data fields, at which thresholds.
Two dates this year, both about words
Neither of the two nearest dates asks you to have a passport ready. From 27 September 2026, EU claims rules ban generic environmental wording that has nothing checkable behind it. From 1 October 2026, a French rule lets a third party calculate and publish a brand's environmental cost score if the brand has not declared its own, using default values that tend to land worse than declared data. Both dates reward the same habit: say only what your data can carry.
What is still moving
The delegated act that will set the actual passport fields for textiles is expected in 2027, per the EU's own working plan, and it will set the compliance date itself, currently read as late 2028 to early 2029. In May 2026 the JRC published the first complete content specification: 49 data points, for products at least 80 percent textile fibre by weight. These are the best current readings, not fixed dates, which is why we write expected rather than promised.
Footwear is its own case
Footwear sits under a separate EU assessment, with conclusions expected toward the end of 2027, and no footwear passport requirement is expected before the textile act is final. We say that plainly, here and in the readiness checker, rather than scoring shoes against textile criteria.
What to work on first
No date changes the order of the work: supplier list, material composition per SKU, then evidence. Supply-chain data takes a year or two to settle in, which makes 2026 and 2027 comfortable starting years rather than late ones. A brand that holds those three things can meet whatever data fields are finally set.
The essentials
- The framework is in force; the textile detail is expected in 2027, with compliance currently read as late 2028 to early 2029.
- The two 2026 dates govern claims wording, not passports.
- Footwear is assessed separately and never scored against textile criteria here.
- No date changes the order of your work: suppliers, composition, evidence.
Primary sources
- ESPR, Regulation (EU) 2024/1781, and the 2025 to 2030 working plan
- Directive (EU) 2024/825: EU claims rules applying from 27 September 2026
- Décret n° 2025-957: the French coût environnemental scheme
- JRC: textile DPP milestone reports, including the May 2026 content specification
- Note: every date on this page is re-checked before publication
Time-bound claims in this module are re-verified at every JRC milestone. Last checked 19 Aug 2026.
Where we stand
Mula is not affiliated with the European Commission, the JRC, or any certification body. We describe rules in our own words and cite the clause. Using Mula is not registration of anything, and nothing here is a statement about your product's legal standing.
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