With the 2009 regulation of heating circulators (EC 641/2009), a first efficiency regulation was established that created significant energy savings in reality. The regulation for this product group is based on the description of the entire unit, consisting of hydraulic components, motor and control electronics. Under time pressure, the regulation of the water pump (EU 547/2012) was launched in 2012. Unfortunately, this is only based on the hydraulic part of the pump itself. The efficiency of this component is described by the so-called MEI (Minimum Efficiency Index). This is based purely on the hydraulic efficiency. A limit value of MEI=0.4 was set here. The MEI should be seen as a cut-off criterion (pure market access criterion) and not as a pure description of efficiency. As a result, 40% of the most energy inefficient pumps may no longer be sold within the EU. In 2017, work began on the revision of the Water Pump Regulation (EU 547/2012). Article 7 "Review" sets out the aim of including the extended product approach. The background to the extended product approach is the consideration of the entire unit under the most realistic operating conditions possible. The advantage of this methodology is that, in contrast to the efficiency analysis, which is always carried out at the optimum operating point, the extended product approach uses a realistic load profile to evaluate efficient operation. Conversely, a significantly higher energy saving potential can be realised.

The introduction of the EPA for pump units with an output of up to 45kW results in an energy saving potential of 35TWh in the EU. On the other hand, savings of 3TWh can be realised by increasing the MEI value.

One of the good optimisations is operation in a fixed-speed application using a frequency converter. The bad optimisations include raising limit values such as the MEI and the resulting additional energy consumption.