Lightbulbs excluded in EU regulations on energy efficiency claims

Environmentalists say lighting industry has been given 'free pass' after being exempted in tightened loopholes on energy performance advertising

The EU has voted to close loopholes that allow home appliance manufacturers to make misleading claims about their products' energy performance, but environmentalists are incandescent that lightbulbs have been excluded from the new rules.

Companies will no longer be able to test fridges, TVs and dishwashers using a 10% margin of error between their advertised and actual energy consumptions, under an amendment to Europe's ecodesign laws approved by national experts in Brussels on Tuesday.