The European Commission has released a revised guideline (EGLA, dated 2 March 2026) clarifying the candidate laboratory alignment procedure under Annex V of Regulation (EU) 2020/740 — the EU Tyre Labelling Regulation. The update directly impacts manufacturers, test laboratories, and EPREL registration stakeholders who are required to submit verified rolling resistance coefficient (RRC) data as part of their product compliance and database entry obligations. For businesses navigating EPREL registration for tyres, understanding these updated technical requirements is now essential to maintaining regulatory compliance.

The revised guideline sets out precise requirements for how candidate laboratories must align their testing machines with an EU reference laboratory network. A minimum set of five alignment tyres must be used, covering the full range of rolling resistance coefficients (RRC) for C1/C2 or C3 tyre classes. The alignment is validated through linear regression analysis, and critically, a coefficient of determination (R²) of at least 0.97 must be achieved — otherwise the candidate laboratory cannot be considered aligned. Laboratories are also required to repeat the alignment process at least once every two years, and immediately following any significant machine modification or detected drift. These technical thresholds directly affect the accuracy of the RRC values submitted to EPREL and the integrity of tyre energy labels on the EU market.

For tyre manufacturers and importers managing EPREL database registrations, this guideline has practical consequences. The RRC values declared in EPREL entries must originate from ISO/IEC 17025-accredited laboratories that have completed a valid alignment procedure in accordance with these updated rules. Any failure in the alignment chain — from tyre selection to regression calculation — could result in non-compliant EPREL submissions and potential market surveillance issues. Companies that rely on third-party test laboratories should proactively confirm that their testing partners have completed up-to-date alignment procedures before submitting or renewing EPREL product registrations.

As a specialist EPREL registration service provider, we closely monitor all updates to EU energy labelling regulations and technical guidelines to ensure our clients’ product entries remain accurate, compliant, and audit-ready. This 2026 alignment guideline revision is another reminder that EPREL compliance is not a one-time task — it requires ongoing attention to the evolving regulatory and technical landscape.