Lighting, production restarts but the Italian market remains stagnant

At a time when the lighting industry is still going through a difficult recovery phase, the issue of market surveillance, in order to avoid or limit unfair competition phenomena, becomes crucial for companies: On the occasion of the assembly of Assil - the National Association of Lighting Manufacturers - the alarming figures emerged from a recent survey by Lighting Europe (the trade association representing the lighting industry in Europe), according to which 71% of the lighting products sold online in Europe and inspected do not comply with the quality and performance standards required within the EU, while 95% of the products checked do not have the necessary WEEE and CE certifications nor do they comply with the information requirements that guarantee compliance with Ecodesign, energy labelling and electrical safety standards.

These are products that mainly come from non-EU countries and use price as their main competitive factor, putting consumer safety, environmental sustainability and the competitiveness of Italian and European companies at risk. Businesses that, on the other hand, invest huge sums every year in research, technology and innovation in order to guarantee standards: training, innovation and digitalisation are, after all, indispensable levers for growing and remaining competitive regardless of the price factor.

This is not an easy road, especially in this historical phase of market stagnation, as witnessed by the data processed by the Anie study centre and disseminated by Assil, which, within Anie Confindustria, represents more than 90 companies producing appliances, electrical components for lighting, light sources and LEDs, which together reach an aggregate turnover of about 2.8 billion euro (more than 65% of the sector's total Italian turnover) and employ more than 8,700 people.

In fact, the figures portray a market that is still shrinking, even though in the first three quarters of 2024 industrial lighting production embarked on a decisive recovery phase (+10.3% on an annual basis): despite the positive trend, the change in turnover remains negative (-6.7%), due to a contraction in consumption by the domestic market.

"Mimit is primarily responsible for coordinating market surveillance activities including the verification of the conformity of products placed on the market with European directives," said Massimo Bitonci, undersecretary at the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy, speaking at the Assil assembly. "Product safety is a priority, not only to guarantee consumer protection, but also to ensure and promote the proper functioning of the market.