As Euractiv and Forbes report, the future of the EU law against greenwashing – the so-called Green Claims Directive (GCD) – is currently uncertain: the EU Commission has suspended negotiations for the time being because it is feared that the law could place a great burden on small companies in particular. Under pressure from conservative groups, particularly the EPP, the law may be withdrawn altogether. Critics speak of a significant step backwards for consumer protection and warn that misleading "green" advertising claims could remain unfiltered. Whether the directive will be relaunched with exemptions for SMEs or finally cancelled, will be decided in the coming weeks.
But be careful: As the lawyers at Noerr report, the abolition of the Green Claims Directive would not lead to its rules being completely abolished, as the Directive on Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition (EmpCo) already came into force on 26 March 2024. The member states are obliged to implement the requirements into law by 27 March 2026. The corresponding laws must be applied from 27 September 2026. In particular, the EmpCo Directive lists various actions that will be prohibited as fundamentally unfair commercial practices in future. These include, for example, the use of a sustainability seal without an underlying certification system and the making of general environmental claims if the company cannot prove the claimed, recognised outstanding environmental performance to which the claim refers.
Questions about Green Claims and EmpCo? The trade-e-bility consulting team will be happy to help you via +49/40/750687-300 or send us an e-mail.
