Commission tables Proposal to fight Greenwashing and Unsubstantiated Environmental Claims

On March 22, The European Commission took action on consumer protection by proposing common criteria against greenwashing and misleading environmental claims. The new draft Directive aims at empowering consumers to make better informed choices and play an active role in the ecological transition by tackling false and unreliable claims and ecolabels.

At present, consumers’ effective contribution to the green transition is hampered by barriers preventing them to make sustainable consumption choices at the point of sale, notably because of the lack of trust in the credibility of environmental messages – 230 different claims were identified just in the EU – and the proliferation of misleading practices related to a products environmental sustainability. This new proposal lays down common minimum rules to ensure that companies make information available that backs up environmental claims, with additional requirements for comparative claims made against other product groups or sector activities. Moreover, it establishes transparency requirements for ecolabels, which will have to be verified by an independent third party and includes the Commission’s mandate to sets up a register of officially trusted labels to be used in the Union market.
The proposed directive included in the third circular economy package (together with the right to repair directive) takes the form of lex specialis, with its scope being limited to environmental claims not already covered by other EU legislation, explicitly excluding the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive among others.
The Green Claims Directive proposal will now be subject to the approval of the European Parliament and the Council.