For most European rules on product information, the consumer must be able to read the information in the language of the country where the product is sold. This principle appears in existing rules on textiles, such as labelling of fibre composition, and there is no reason to assume that this will be different for the textile passport. At the same time, the exact language provisions for the passport are not yet finalised: the delegated act that must regulate this is expected within the ESPR work plan in 2027 and has not yet been published at the time of writing.
What this means for you depends on where you sell. If you sell exclusively in the Netherlands, the chances are small that you need to worry about multiple languages. If you also sell in Germany, France or Spain, it stands to reason that the information in the passport must also be available in the language of those countries, alongside or instead of Dutch. The official text and subsequent delegated acts are the guide in this matter; this explanation is descriptive and not legal advice on your own situation.
Why language is a country-specific matter
The regulation itself mainly determines what must be in the passport: data on fibres, origin, repairability and the like. The language in which that data is presented to the consumer often relates to national rules on consumer protection and language use in commerce. Different member states have had their own provisions on this for some time, separately from this regulation. It is therefore plausible that the language choice for the passport will continue to differ by country, even though the content of the passport will soon be the same across the EU.
This also explains why supervision and language rules are two separate matters. Which supervisory authority checks is a different question from what language the information must be in. Both subjects can differ per country, but for different reasons: one follows from the organisation of market surveillance, the other from language and consumer legislation.
What this practically means for the content behind the QR code
If your passport will soon need to be available in multiple languages, the question is not only what you translate, but also how. A digital passport behind a QR code can in theory display a different version per language, based on the language setting of the consumer's device or on a language choice on the page itself. This places demands on the technology with which the passport is built and hosted, and it is one of the points worth discussing early with whoever compiles or hosts the passport for you.
It also affects your own source data. Descriptions of materials, origin or care instructions that are currently only recorded in Dutch must then also remain correct and up-to-date in other languages. This is not a one-off translation task but an ongoing process, especially if the composition or origin of an article changes. In the knowledge base where this is worked out per situation this subject will be updated as soon as the delegated act provides further clarity on it.
What you can prepare now
Even without knowing the definitive language rules, it is worthwhile to map out in which EU countries you sell and in which languages your current product information is already available. Companies that already have multilingual labels or webshop pages have a head start: the translation effort for the digital product passport will then align with what already exists. Companies that only have Dutch-language documentation are well advised to include this point in discussions about procurement and contracts with suppliers, so that source data can also be provided in other languages.
Whether your situation involves multiple languages depends on where you sell now and in the near future. With a few questions you will see roughly where you stand, and on the page where the information comes from you can read how we keep track of sources once the official texts provide more clarity on this. For a concrete assessment of your own situation, a legal advisor or the competent supervisory authority remains the appropriate point of contact.
Do you have further questions about how language, supervision and the content of the digital product passport relate to each other? On the page with answers to practical questions you will find more of these kinds of topics explained briefly and clearly, and the free quick-scan gives you a first picture of where your company stands in just a few minutes.