The European Council announced that it has adopted a directive aimed at protecting consumers from misleading green claims and other greenwashing practices, including a ban on unverified generic environmental claims such as “eco-friendly” or “biodegradable” and those based on emissions compensation.
The announcement marks the last major step towards the approval of the legislative act, with its adoption now complete, following its recent approval in Parliament.
The adoption of the new law follows the release of a set of proposals by the European Commission in March 2022 to update rules that protect consumers from unfair commercial practices such as false or aggressive advertising, including the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (UCPD ) and consumer rights. Directive (DRFP), to include aspects related to the green transition and the circular economy. A recent Commission study found that more than half of green claims made by companies in the EU were vague or misleading and 40% were completely unfounded.
Key aspects of the new directive include rules aimed at making product labels clearer by prohibiting the use of generic environmental claims not supported by evidence, and the regulation of sustainability labels to only allow the use of those based on official certification systems or established by public entities. authorities.
The directive also includes rules focusing on product durability, requiring product warranty information to be more visible and mandating the creation of a harmonized label to give more prominence to products with an extended warranty period, as well as prohibiting unsubstantiated durability claims. , requesting to replace consumables before strictly necessary or presenting goods as repairable when they are not.
While maintaining the main objectives of the Commission's initial proposal, the final text of the directive agreed by the EU Parliament and Council added several aspects, including a ban on claims based on carbon offsetting schemes that indicate that a product is impact neutral, reduced or positive impact on the environment, strengthening criteria around sustainability labels and increasing monitoring of claims related to products' future environmental performance.
The Directive is part of a package of consumer-oriented environmental and circular economy-focused proposals from the EU Commission, which also includes the Ecodesign Regulation, the proposed Directives on Green Claims and the Promotion of Redress (Right to Repair). .
With full adoption, the directive will now be signed by the presidents of Parliament and the Council. Once published in the EU Official Journal, Member States will have 2 years to integrate the rules into national legislation.
Following the adoption, Pierre-Yves Dermagne, Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Economy and Employment, stated:
“Thanks to the directive adopted today, consumers will be better informed, better protected and better equipped to be true actors in the ecological transition.”
