ILB

 The phase-out of the incandescent light bulb technology through the EU regulation 244/2009, based on the Eco-Design of Energy-Using Products Directive 2009/125/EC, started in the EU in 2009 (Visser 2012; Stegmaier et al. 2012; Edge/McKeen-Edwards 2008); here we have, so far, compared the problem negotiations on EU supranational and Dutch national level, although in the following we will focus alone on the EU level. Looking at the governance process, it can be noted that the ILB governance problem is fully under control or ‘structured’ in the sense that currently there is no open process, but the knowledge and value questions settled. Governance actors treat the case as unproblematic. Thus the European Union, together with Switzerland and Australia, come four years after Brazil and Venezuela who were the first to start phasing ILB out in 2005. Argentina and Russia are planning phase-outs in 2012, and the United States, Canada, Malaysia, and South Corea in 2014. The phase-out occurs disruptive in several countries. In the EU, the immediate discontinuation applies only to general-purpose, non-directional incandescent bulbs. The limit will be gradually moved down to lower wattages, and the efficiency levels raised by the end of 2012. After some pioneers went ahead, increasingly coordinated action was organised, most formally designed within a regulatory framework, partially dedicated to the ILB ban, partially a general one for diverse products.