If you sell tyres in multiple EU countries, it is fair to ask whether your software supplier needs to arrange something different for each country. The short answer: the core of the digital product passport for tyres is one European regulation, and it applies in all member states in the same way. The technical basis — which data it should contain, how the QR data carrier works, how the unique identification is constructed — is designed to be the same everywhere.
What can differ, however, is not in the passport itself but in the environment around it: which supervisory authority carries out checks, how a member state implements that supervision in practice, and which existing national rules remain alongside the passport. These are precisely the points you discuss with your software supplier if you are not only active in the Netherlands.
What is the same across the entire EU
The regulation on which the tyre passport will be based is a European regulation and not a directive. This means that member states cannot fill in the content themselves: the data elements, the data carrier and the structure of the passport are fixed at EU level. For the core of your software connection, it therefore makes no difference in principle whether you supply to a garage in Rotterdam or in Lyon. You can read more about that basis in the overview by subject in the knowledge base.
What can differ per country
Three matters lie outside the core of the passport and can vary per country. First, the language in which certain information must be made available to the end user — this has been elaborated earlier on this platform and depends on where you put the tyre on the market. Second, the way the national supervisory authority carries out checks and which other bodies it works with; this differs from member state to member state and may still change before the delegated act is adopted. Third, the location where data is hosted: some purchasing parties or national requirements set requirements for where data is stored. How we handle this is explained on the page about privacy and the handling of your data.
Existing national rules alongside the passport
In most EU countries, tyres have long been covered by a regulation on producer responsibility, aimed at collection and recycling at the end of their life. These rules exist separately from the digital product passport and have differed for years per country in implementation and organisation. In practice, they are sometimes confused with the passport, because both concern the same tyre and both entail an administrative obligation. For your own situation, it is sensible to keep these two separate: the passport concerns product information during the life cycle, the producer rule concerns what happens to the tyre after the end of its life. For the precise implementation of a national rule, we refer you to the competent authority in the country concerned.
Questions you can ask your software supplier
It is worthwhile to ask in advance how a supplier handles differences between countries: can the system handle multiple language variants of the same data without you doing double work, is the hosting location adjustable if a customer requires it, and how quickly is a change in national implementation implemented once it becomes known. It is also useful to ask whether the supplier distinguishes between the mandatory core of the passport and supplementary information that varies per country, so that the two do not accidentally become mixed up. You can get an initial picture of where your company currently stands with a few questions that immediately provide an indication.
What is not yet fixed
The delegated act for tyres is expected in 2027 according to the European Commission's work plan for 2025-2030; the tyre passport itself is anticipated around 2029. Both dates are not yet final. Once the act is published, it will become clear whether and how country-specific implementation will have a place in it. Until then, caution with definitive statements about differences between countries is warranted — much depends on the final text. More background on how we maintain that information can be found on the page about where our information comes from.
Are you uncertain whether and how this will affect your business, especially if you sell across borders? Take the free quick-scan or browse through the topics in the knowledge base to see which questions are relevant for your situation.