The European Commission is expected to present a Proposal for a Directive on Green Claims ("Proposed Green Claims Directive" or "the Proposal") within the next few months. Together with the Proposal for a Directive empowering consumers for the green transition through better protection against unfair practices and better information ("Consumer Empowerment Directive Proposal"), the Proposed Green Claims Directive would contribute to the EU's green transition towards a circular, climate-neutral and clean economy by creating a common methodology for the substantiation of green claims that concern the environmental footprint of products, services and companies.It would aim to reduce greenwashing and enable consumers to take informed purchasing decisions based on reliable information about the sustainability of products and traders.
If adopted, it is likely to significantly limit the environmental claims that businesses can make in the EU/EEA. Businesses may want to consider approaching the Commission to try to influence the final legislative proposal that it is expected to present by March 2023. Once the Commission presents its legislative proposal, businesses should consider proposing amendments to the European Parliament and Council.
Harmonization of the Rules on Green Claims in the EU
Currently EU law does not explicitly regulate environmental claims.万博体育app手机登录Instead, environmental claims are subject to the general rules of Directive 2005/29 on Unfair Business-to-Consumer Practices and Directive 2006/114 on Comparative Advertising. While the Commission and Member States have issued guidance interpreting these directives and their national implementation in the context of green claims, in practice there is a wide range of variations on the requirements for and enforcement against these claims among Member States. The Proposed Green Claims Directive is expected to create a harmonized set of rules on the substantiation of voluntary green claims applicable to all companies operating in the EU/EEA.
Covered Green Claims
The Proposal is expected to define green claims subject to the new rules as "any message or representation, including text, pictorial, graphic or symbolic representation (e.g., labels, brand names, company names or product names), which states or implies that a product or trader has a positive or no impact on the environment or is less damaging to the environment than other products or traders, respectively, or has improved their impact over time." The Proposal is not expected to apply to claims that cover aspects other than those related to the environment. For example, sustainability claims would only be covered if they refer to environmental sustainability (e.g., preventingbiodiversity loss).
The proposed rules are also only expected to cover voluntary claims made by companies in the context of business-to-consumer ("B2C") transactions. The rules would also not cover environmental mandatory labelling or disclosures under EU environmental rules.万博体育app手机登录For example, mandatory declarations under Proposal for Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, or the requirements under the EU Taxonomy Regulation or the Proposal for a Regulation Establishing a Union Regulatory Framework on the Certification of Carbon Removals) are out of scope.
General Rules on Green Claims
The Proposal is expected to impose general requirements on the environmental claims that companies can make that will mirror those of the existing Commission's guidance. In particular, it will require that companies:
Methodology to Substantiate Green Claims
In line with current Commission's and Member States' guidance on environmental claims, the Proposal is expected to require economic operators to duly substantiate their environmental claims on the basis of a methodology that:
The Proposal is expected to add a lengthy list of additional requirements with which the methodologies to substantiate environmental claims must comply. This is a significant departure from the previous, lighter requirements under the Commission's and Member States' green claims guidance. In this context, the Proposal links these requirements to the existing EU Product and Organization Environmental Footprint methods ("PEF" and "OEF"). Where a company complies with the Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules ("PEFCRs") for a product, the claims made on the basis of the PEFCRs are deemed compliant with the requirements of the Proposal.
Requirements Related to Comparative Environmental Claims
The Proposal is also expected to include rules on environmental comparative claims, namely, that:
If adopted, these requirements are likely to make environmental comparative advertising more challenging for companies. Product certification and testing is costly, and the proposed wording would in practice require companies to conduct head-to-head studies to be able to claim any comparative advantage. Broad, sector-wide claims based on publicly available studies would no longer be acceptable.
New Rules on Forward Looking Claims
The Proposal is also expected to introduce new strict rules on forward-looking claims (i.e., claims that suggest that a product, service or company will achieve specific environmental benefits by a certain future date).The Proposal is expected to require that claims related to the future environmental performance of a product, service or trader:
Enforcement and Access to Justice for third Parties
The proposal is expected to introduce new and reinforced rules on enforcement against companies making non-compliant environmental claims. Member States are expected to be required to carry out a compliance monitoring:
CompanyAfter receiving a notification for non-compliance, companies would only have 10 business days to provide an answer. Where a trader does not provide a timely or satisfactory answer, enforcement authorities must require the trader to correct the non-compliant claim or immediately stop its communication. The trader will have to implement the corrective actions within 30 business days.
The Proposal is also expected to allow third parties to submit complaints against non-compliant green claims before administrative authorities, and thereafter courts, if the third parties have sufficient interest or have the rights infringed. Such complains may lead to injunctive actions, including the immediate stop of the communication of the non-compliant claims.
Next Steps
The European Commission is expected to formally present its proposed Green Claims Directive by the end of March 2023. Once presented, the European Parliament and Council will consider the Proposal for adoption through the ordinary legislative procedure. This process will allow for the introduction of amendments and will take at least 18 months. As indicated above, industry should keep a close eye on the development of this proposal as the requirements it will impose will have a significant impact on the current practices.
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