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In addition, suppliers and dealers of vacuum cleaners may not use supplementary labels which reproduce or clarify the information displayed on the energy label where it could mislead or confuse the consumer with respect to energy consumption

Since 1 September 2014, all vacuum cleaners sold in the EU have been subject to energy labelling requirements, the detailed rules of which have been fixed by the Commission in a regulation supplementing the Directive on energy labelling. The energy labelling is aimed, among other things, at informing consumers of energy efficiency levels and cleaning performances of vacuum cleaners.

The company Dyson markets vacuum cleaners which operate without a dust bag, while the company BSH markets, under the trade marks Siemens and Bosch, conventional vacuum cleaners which operate with a dust bag.

Dyson challenges the energy labelling of the vacuum cleaners marketed by BSH. That labelling reflects the results of energy efficiency tests carried out with an empty dust bag, in accordance with the regulation. Dyson considers that the energy labelling of those vacuum cleaners misleads consumers since, under normal conditions of use, the pores of the bag become clogged when it fills with dust so that the motor must generate more power to maintain the same suction. The vacuum cleaners marketed by Dyson, which operate without a dust bag, are not affected by that loss of energy efficiency under normal conditions of use.

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