CIRPASS-2 publishes its DPP reference architecture and an open-source test environment with a mock EU registry

While the Commission was switching on the central DPP registry, the EU-funded project charged with piloting passports at scale published the tools it wants implementers to build against. CIRPASS-2, which runs from May 2024 to April 2027 and covers 13 pilots across textiles, electronics, tyres and construction products, released a cluster of results between June and July 2026. All are listed on the project's results page.

D4.1: the reference architecture

Published on 10 June 2026, the updated D4.1 Reference Architecture proposes a reference architecture of the Digital Product Passport system and recommendations for implementation. It comes with a companion document on risks and mitigations and a summary sheet for readers who want the recommendations without the full text.

Two caveats matter. First, this is a consortium deliverable. It is not a Commission act and not a CEN-CENELEC standard, and it does not carry the presumption of conformity that the cited EN 18xxx standards do. Second, it is an update. CIRPASS-2 published a first version of D4.1 in 2025, and the first CIRPASS project published a system architecture in 2024. Readers comparing against earlier drafts should check the version they hold.

An open-source test environment

On 16 June 2026 the project released an open-source test environment that includes a mock EU registry and validation tools. For development teams this fills a practical gap. The Commission's own registry has a testing environment, but it is a shared sandbox operated by the Commission. A local mock lets a team run passport registration and validation flows inside its own build pipeline, and check that a passport payload is well formed before touching the official system. Our open-source overview will be updated as we assess the toolchain.

Evidence from the pilots and surveys

Three other releases add evidence rather than architecture:

• DPP readiness survey results (10 April 2026), based on surveys run between December 2025 and March 2026. The project reports that publicly available regulatory information is seen as insufficient and hard to access, and that readiness problems go beyond an information gap.
• EEE sector implementation survey (6 March 2026), on drivers and barriers in electronics.
• Textiles granularity survey (3 July 2026), collecting industry feedback on the project's granularity recommendations for textiles and apparel. The JRC's own textiles DPP content study draws on the CIRPASS-2 granularity analysis.

The project also published an overview of global DPP standardisation initiatives (25 June 2026), a note on bridging the Asset Administration Shell and RDF approaches to interoperability (30 April 2026), and its response to the Commission's consultation on the draft registry act (27 May 2026).

How this fits with the official stack

The division of labour is now reasonably clear. The ESPR and its delegated acts set the legal requirements and the data each product group must carry. CEN-CENELEC's JTC 24 standards define how a passport is identified, carried, stored, exchanged and secured. The Commission's registry and Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1778 provide the central index. CIRPASS-2 sits alongside as a testing ground: reference implementations, pilots and evidence that feed back to the Commission and the standards bodies. Its earlier data model work followed the same pattern.

What to do now

• Download the D4.1 summary sheet and the risks companion, and compare the role model (economic operator, service provider, authority, end user) against your own architecture.
• Stand up the open-source test environment in a development branch and run your registration flow against the mock registry before you use the Commission's shared sandbox.
• If you are in textiles, electronics, tyres or construction, look at the pilot in your sector. The results page links to each.

Primary source: CIRPASS-2 project results.