A Digital Product Passport does not rest on a single standard, but on an entire standards family. CEN/CENELEC JTC 24 (the Joint Technical Committee "Digital Product Passport"), under the M/590 mandate, is developing the horizontal series of standards that will apply to every ESPR product group. It is worth knowing its parts.
Why horizontal?
The ESPR covers many different products (batteries, textiles, furniture, electronics...). Rather than inventing a separate DPP technology for each, JTC 24 defines common building blocks: data carrier, data exchange, identifiers, access, security, persistence. This keeps the DPP interoperable across industries.
Members of the standards family (prEN, mostly 2026 drafts)
| Standard | Topic | What it solves |
|---|---|---|
| prEN 18216 | Data exchange protocols | how systems exchange DPP data |
| prEN 18219:2026 | Unique identifiers | unique product and item identifiers |
| prEN 18220 | Data carrier | the data carrier (e.g. QR/GS1 Digital Link) |
| prEN 18221:2026 | Data storage, archiving, persistence | storage and long-term retention (architecture) |
| prEN 18222:2026 | APIs (lifecycle management & searchability) | APIs for the DPP lifecycle and search |
| prEN 18223:2026 | System interoperability | system interoperability |
| prEN 18239 | Access rights, security, confidentiality | access management, security, business confidentiality |
| prEN 18246 | Data authentication, reliability, integrity | data authenticity and integrity (ESDC) |
How does it relate to DIN DKE SPEC 99100?
DIN DKE SPEC 99100 is the content guidance for the battery passport (which fields are needed). The JTC 24 standards family provides the horizontal infrastructure (how to store, exchange, identify and protect it). Together they draw the full picture: the what and the how.
What does this mean for a DPP platform?
A future-proof platform is built to fit the JTC 24 elements with minimal rework:
- Identifiers (18219): GS1 Digital Link + serial number.
- Data carrier (18220): ISO/IEC 18004 QR.
- Data exchange (18216) / API (18222): content negotiation, REST/JSON.
- Persistence (18221): long-term, reliable storage.
- Access (18239): persona/role-based visibility.
- Authenticity (18246): W3C VC + Data Integrity signature.
The international context
Alongside JTC 24, it is worth knowing the CIRPASS-2 EU consortium (pilots and recommendations to the European Commission) and the Catena-X automotive ecosystem (EcoPass KIT). These are not competitors, but mutually reinforcing layers.
Frequently asked questions
When will the standards be finalised?
They are drafts (prEN); finalisation is in progress. Their principles are already indicative.
Do they have to be purchased?
The standards are subject to a fee (through DIN/CEN channels). This article covers only public principles.
Must a platform support all of them?
Not all at once — but a future-proof architecture is built to fit each of them.
The standards family is the future — build on it. ReadyPass's data model is built to align with the JTC 24 elements: identifiers, data carrier, access and authenticity.
Sources: CEN/CENELEC JTC 24 (M/590); prEN 18216, 18219, 18220, 18221, 18222, 18223, 18239, 18246; DIN DKE SPEC 99100.
