🌱Towards A Green Claims Directive Withdrawal (?)

What Is the EU Green Claims Directive?

The Green Claims Directive, proposed by the European Commission in March 2023, is part of the EU's broader effort to combat greenwashing and protect consumers from misleading environmental claims. The Commission’s proposal set out minimum standards for how businesses substantiate, communicate, and verify environmental claims. It required companies to back voluntary green claims with scientific evidence and to undergo independent third-party verification to ensure credibility and accuracy. The directive also addressed the growing number of private environmental labels, mandating that such labels be reliable, transparent, independently assessed, and subject to regular review. Under the proposed rules, new environmental labels would only be permitted if developed at the EU level and approved on the basis of demonstrating higher environmental ambition than existing labelling schemes.

Legislative Timeline

The Green Claims Directive Proposal has undergone several key developments since its introduction:

• March 2023: Commission proposes the Green Claims Directive.

• March 2024: Parliament adopts its first-reading position.

• June 17, 2024: Council agrees on its general approach.

• January 2025: Inter-institutional trilogues begin.

• June 20, 2025: Commission signals intention to withdraw the proposal.

• June 23, 2025: Trilogue cancelled

Withdrawal Announcement

Following the European Commission’s announcement on June 20, 2025, of its intention to withdraw the Green Claims Directive, the trilogue negotiations scheduled for June 23, 2025 got cancelled.

The Commission stated that the inclusion of microenterprises (fewer than 10 employees and under €2M turnover) would impose disproportionate administrative burdens, contradicting its goal to reduce red tape for small businesses. With 30 million microenterprises in the EU—making up 96% of all companies—this concern was positioned as the primary reason for halting the legislative process.

However, this justification was highly criticized:

“This modus operandi could set a dangerous precedent for the legislative process and institutional procedures, leading to unnecessary and avoidable confrontation among co-legislators[…]” — MEPs Anna Cavazzini, Parliament’s Chair of the Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection, and Antonio Decaro, Chair of the Committee on the Environment, Climate and Food Safety

“The mandate of the European Parliament is to exempt the micro-enterprises. […] I don’t understand why the Commission makes this declaration.”— Sandro Gozi, Rapporteur

Another central criticism is the absence of a robust impact assessment. MEPs note that the Commission has not convincingly demonstrated that:

• The expected environmental or consumer benefits outweigh

  
  

• The substantial compliance costs and legal uncertainty the directive would impose

This weakens the directive’s credibility and may violate better regulation principles laid out in the EU Interinstitutional Agreement on Better Law-Making of 13 April 2016.

Conclusion: What Should Companies Do Now?

Even if the Green Claims Directive is put on hold, greenwashing regulation in the EU is far from disappearing.

Two existing instruments continue to provide legal grounds for enforcement:

• Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (UCPD) 2005/29/EC : prohibits unfair, misleading, or aggressive commercial practices toward consumers in business-to-consumer (B2C) contexts

• Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive (ECGT) 2024/825 : Generic green claims (e.g., “eco-friendly,” “climate neutral”) are prohibited unless they are independently verified and scientifically substantiated. Misleading durability claims (e.g., exaggerated lifespan or performance) and false carbon offset messaging (unless credits meet strict standards) are also prohibited. It requires clear information about product repairability, spare parts, and software updates.

Thus, with or without the Green Claims Directive, businesses making environmental or sustainability claims in the EU must ensure that their communications are accurate, transparent, and verifiable.

📌 Actionable Steps:

• Audit current green claims for compliance with UCPD and ECGT standards.

• Develop internal substantiation documentation for any environmental statements.

• Consult legal counsel for claim vetting, especially in high-risk sectors like fashion, aviation, and food.

#EULaw, #ESG, #Greenwashing, #GreenClaimsDirective, #Microenterprises, #ConsumerProtection, #UCPD