2026-09-08
Battery passport access rights: the Article 77(9) implementing act missed its 18 August 2026 deadline
Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 required the Commission to adopt an implementing act on who has a legitimate interest in restricted battery passport data by 18 August 2026. The Commission's DPP timeline now lists it for Q4 2026, three months before passports become mandatory.
The EU's first mandatory Digital Product Passport has a fixed start date and a moving rulebook. Under Article 77(1) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1542, every electric vehicle battery, every light means of transport battery and every industrial battery above 2 kWh placed on the market or put into service from 18 February 2027 must have a battery passport. One of the acts needed to operate that passport was due on 18 August 2026. It has not been adopted.
What the regulation says
Article 77(2) divides the passport into three access tiers:
- information accessible to the general public, under point 1 of Annex XIII;
- information accessible only to notified bodies, market surveillance authorities and the Commission, under points 2 and 3 of Annex XIII;
- information accessible only to any natural or legal person with a legitimate interest, under points 2 and 4 of Annex XIII.
The third tier is defined by purpose. Access must concern dismantling of the battery, including safety measures, and the detailed composition of the model, and be essential for repairers, remanufacturers, second-life operators and recyclers to do their work. Alternatively, for individual batteries, it must be essential to the purchaser or parties acting for the purchaser in order to make the battery available to independent energy aggregators or energy market participants.
Article 77(9) then instructs the Commission: by 18 August 2026, adopt implementing acts specifying which persons count as having a legitimate interest, which information in points 2 and 4 they may access, and to what extent they may download, share, publish and re-use it. The criteria are the necessity of the data to evaluate the battery's status and residual value, the necessity for re-use, repurposing, remanufacturing or recycling decisions, and the need to keep access to commercially sensitive information to the minimum necessary.
Article 78(b) closes the loop. Access to the passport must be free of charge and based on the access rights set out in Annex XIII and the implementing act adopted pursuant to Article 77(9).
Where the Commission stands
As of 8 September 2026, the Commission's Digital Product Passport page lists the battery access-rights implementing act among its Q4 2026 milestones, alongside the iron and steel delegated act. That leaves a window of roughly three months between adoption and the 18 February 2027 application date, and less once publication and any transition wording are accounted for.
The Commission has moved on the content side. Version 2.0 of its data-points guidance was published on 21 August 2026 and we have summarised it here. But that document covers what goes into the passport, not who may see the restricted tiers.
Why it matters for your build
The public tier is already defined by Annex XIII point 1 and can be implemented now. The authority tier is defined by the categories of body named in the regulation. The legitimate-interest tier is the one your access-control design cannot finalise until the implementing act lands. Two things follow:
- Your role and permission model should treat "legitimate interest" as a configurable role whose membership rules and download, share and re-use limits are set later, not hard-coded now.
- If you use a DPP service provider, ask how they intend to onboard and verify legitimate-interest users once the act is adopted, and whether that verification sits with them or with you as the economic operator responsible under Article 77(4).
The horizontal standard that covers this area, EN 18239 on access-rights management, information-system security and business confidentiality, is not yet cited in the Official Journal either. Its status is tracked in our standards update.
What to do now
- Build and test the public and authority tiers against Annex XIII now.
- Design the legitimate-interest tier as a placeholder role with externally configurable rules.
- Watch the Commission's DPP page and the Official Journal for the Article 77(9) act, and for any consultation on a draft.
Primary sources: Regulation (EU) 2023/1542, Articles 77 and 78; European Commission, Digital Product Passport.
Frequently asked questions
What does Article 77(9) of the Batteries Regulation require?
Article 77(9) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 required the Commission to adopt, by 18 August 2026, implementing acts specifying which persons are to be considered persons with a legitimate interest for the purposes of the battery passport, which information in points 2 and 4 of Annex XIII they may access, and to what extent they can download, share, publish and re-use it. The acts follow the examination procedure in Article 90(3).
Who can access battery passport data?
Article 77(2) sets three tiers. Information under point 1 of Annex XIII is accessible to the general public. Information under points 2 and 3 is accessible only to notified bodies, market surveillance authorities and the Commission. Information under points 2 and 4 is accessible only to natural or legal persons with a legitimate interest, for purposes linked to dismantling, composition and second-life or recycling operations, or to making an individual battery available to energy aggregators or energy market participants.
Does the missed deadline delay the battery passport itself?
No. Article 77(1) applies from 18 February 2027 regardless of whether the implementing act under Article 77(9) has been adopted. The obligation to have a passport is on the economic operator placing the battery on the market. The delay affects the definition of the legitimate-interest access tier, not the date.