Article 1 — Subject matter and scope
1. This Regulation lays down requirements on sustainability, safety, labelling, marking and information to allow the placing on the market or putting into service of batteries within the Union. It also lays down minimum requirements for extended producer responsibility, the collection and treatment of waste batteries and for reporting. 2. This Regulation imposes battery due diligence obligations on economic operators placing batteries on the market or putting them into service. It also lays down requirements for green public procurement when procuring batteries or products into which batteries are incorporated. 3. This Regulation applies to all categories of batteries, namely portable batteries, starting, lighting and ignition batteries (SLI batteries), light means of transport batteries (LMT batteries), electric vehicle batteries and industrial batteries, regardless of their shape, volume, weight, design, material composition, chemistry, use or purpose. It shall also apply to batteries that are incorporated into or added to products or that are specifically designed to be incorporated into or added to products. For the purposes of Chapter II, where batteries placed on the market can be considered to fall under more than one category, they shall be deemed to fall under the category to which the strictest requirements apply. 4. In cases where battery cells or battery modules are made available on the market for end use, without any further incorporation or assembly into larger battery packs or batteries, they shall be considered to have been placed on the market as batteries for the purposes of this Regulation, and the requirements for the most similar battery category shall apply. In cases where it can be considered that such battery cells or battery modules fall under more than one battery category, they shall be deemed to fall under the category to which the strictest requirements apply. 5. This Regulation does not apply to batteries that are incorporated into or that are specifically designed to be incorporated into: (a) equipment connected with the protection of Member States’ essential security interests, arms, munitions and war material, with the exclusion of products that are not intended for specifically military purposes; and (b) equipment designed to be sent into space. 6. Chapters III and VIII of this Regulation do not apply to equipment specifically designed for the safety of nuclear installations, as defined in Article 3 of Council Directive 2009/71/Euratom (42).