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🔎 Key takeaways
- Environment: Commission publishes explanatory FAQ on the IED 2.0 Directive
- Energy and buildings: Definition of technical and supply requirements (European resilience) for deferring mandatory solar installation on parking lots over 1,500 m², and revision of the carbon impact calculation method for renovation heating systems.
- Safety: Ban on the manufacture, sale, and use of Chlorpyrifos (classified as a persistent organic pollutant) and removal of the requirement for systematic additional medical examinations in 55 occupational disease tables (general and agricultural schemes).
In September 2026, several regulatory changes affected businesses: clarification of the IED Directive, new conditions for deferring solar panel installation on parking lots, stricter requirements for certain heating equipment, and health safety measures. Find the key texts published regarding the environment, energy, and safety.
ENVIRONMENT
Clarification of the amendments introduced by the IED 2.0 Directive
Commission Communication — Questions and answers relating to Directive (EU) 2024/1785 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 April 2024 amending Directive 2010/75/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on industrial emissions (integrated pollution prevention and control) and Council Directive 1999/31/EC on the landfill of waste [OJEU of 15 September 2026]
To assist Member States and businesses in transposing and implementing the IED 2.0 Directive, the European Commission has developed a 55-question FAQ that is not legally binding. However, this communication does not take into account the amendments proposed by the Commission in December 2025 as part of the environmental omnibus (simplification of certain requirements and reduction of administrative burden).
Nine themes are addressed:
- emission levels;
- environmental performance levels and benchmarks;
- environmental management systems (EMS);
- indirect releases into water;
- innovation;
- registration;
- poultry and pig farming;
- transitional provisions;
- transposition.
ENERGY
Conditions for deferring the installation of solar panels on parking lots larger than 1,500 m²
Decree No. 2026-842 of September 7, 2026, regarding the technical and environmental performance and supply resilience characteristics of photovoltaic solar panels required to qualify for a deadline extension for outdoor parking lots exceeding 1,500 square meters [Official Journal of September 8, 2026]
As a reminder, existing outdoor parking lots as of July 1, 2023, and those for which a planning permit application was submitted on or after March 10, 2023, with a surface area greater than 1,500 m², must be equipped over at least half of that area with solar carports incorporating renewable energy production systems, or a combination of carports covering 35% of that 50% area and green infrastructure for the remainder, specifically:
- before July 1, 2026, for parking lots with a surface area of 10,000 m² or more,
- before July 1, 2028, for those with a surface area between 1,500 m² and 10,000 m².
A deadline extension is granted if the installed photovoltaic panels meet specific technical, environmental, and supply resilience performance standards:
- before January 1, 2028, for parking lots of 10,000 m² or more, provided the owner can show a signed contract with a deposit by June 30, 2026, and a purchase order placed before December 31, 2026;
- before January 1, 2030, for parking lots between 1,500 and 10,000 m², provided the owner can show a signed contract with a deposit by June 30, 2027, and a purchase order placed before December 31, 2027.
The purpose of this text is to specify these performance and supply resilience conditions required to qualify for the extension, namely:
Technical and environmental performance:
- Energy efficiency or yield value, defined as the ratio between the energy received by the exposed surface of the installed panel and the energy produced, strictly greater than 22%;
- After the first year, an annual decline in energy efficiency of less than 0.4%;
- Simplified Carbon Assessment (ECS) value of the panel of less than 740 kg CO2 eq/kWp (the calculation method for which is detailed in the appendix);
- Product warranty of 12 years or more (covering manufacturing defects);
- Performance warranty of at least 30 years (the panel must produce at least 80% of its nominal capacity);
Supply resilience:
- For parking lots of 10,000 m² or more: The module must be assembled by a company that does not carry out the majority of its module production in a third country that accounts for more than 50% of the European Union's supply of photovoltaic panels. Production is assessed at the level of the corporate group as defined by the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE), of which the company is a subsidiary, if applicable.
- For parking lots between 1,500 and less than 10,000 m²: The module must be assembled within the European Economic Area. The cells must not be manufactured in a third country that accounts for more than 50% of the European Union's supply of photovoltaic panels.
This text repeals and replaces Decree No. 2024-1104 of December 3, 2024, which concerned only the characteristics of photovoltaic solar panels allowing for a postponement of the deadline for the obligation imposed on outdoor parking lots with an area of 10,000 m² or more.
Modification of environmental performance requirements for the installation of heating and domestic hot water equipment in existing buildings
Construction and Housing Code, Articles R. 171-10 to R. 171-13: Heating and cooling of buildings AMENDED by Decree No. 2026-863 of September 12, 2026, regarding environmental performance requirements for the installation of heating, cooling, or domestic hot water production equipment in a building [Official Journal of the French Republic of September 13, 2026]
Decree No. 2026-863 of September 12, 2026, issued in application of Article L. 171-1 of the Construction and Housing Code and transposing Directive (EU) 2024/1275 of April 24, 2024, modifies the conditions for installing heating or domestic hot water production equipment.
The obligation to comply with environmental performance requirements applies only to installations carried out in an existing building; new buildings are now covered under separate articles.
To verify compliance with the regulatory threshold of 300 gCO2eq/kWh LHV, the criterion is no longer the equipment's greenhouse gas emission level, but the conversion coefficient of each type of energy used by the equipment.
SAFETY
Addition of the substance Chlorpyrifos as a prohibited POP (persistent organic pollutant)
Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 of the European Parliament and of the Council of June 20, 2019, on persistent organic pollutants AMENDED BY Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1423 of June 30, 2026, amending Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards chlorpyrifos [Official Journal of the European Union of September 10, 2026]
The regulation amends Part A of Annex I of this regulation, which lists prohibited POPs, and adds Chlorpyrifos "CAS No. 2921-88-2" (an organophosphorus insecticide, not approved as an active substance in plant protection products or biocidal products).
Consequently, the manufacture, placing on the market, and use of chlorpyrifos are prohibited, whether as a substance, in mixtures, or in articles.
An exemption is provided to account for the unintentional presence of trace amounts as a contaminant in substances, mixtures, and articles.
Removal of mandatory supplementary examinations for the recognition of occupational diseases under the general and agricultural schemes
Social Security Code, Articles R. 461-1 to R. 461-10: Provisions concerning occupational diseases AND Rural and Maritime Fishing Code, Articles R. 751-23 to R. 751-25: Tables of occupational diseases in agriculture AMENDED BY Decrees No. 2026-900, No. 2026-901, and 2026-902 of September 24, 2026 [Official Journal of the French Republic of September 29, 2026]
Decrees No. 2026-900, No. 2026-901, and No. 2026-902 of September 24, 2026, modify:
- 41 out of 120 occupational disease tables under the general scheme;
- 14 out of 62 occupational disease tables under the agricultural scheme.
These modifications remove the obligation to systematically perform supplementary examinations. They now allow the medical advisor to determine their necessity for diagnosing an occupational disease, based on the recommendations of the French National Authority for Health (HAS) or learned societies. Indeed, some examinations had become obsolete, unsuitable, or difficult to access in certain parts of France.
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