EU: EmpCo Directive and the EU Green claims directive

Brussels: The European Commission launched the European (EU) Green Deal in 2019. The EU Green Deal is a package of policy initiatives, one of which is a commitment to tackle false environmental claims by requiring that consumers receive reliable, comparable, and verifiable information to enable them to make more sustainable decisions and reduce the risk of greenwashing.

The Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition (“EmpCo Directive”) was approved in March 2024 and amends the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive.

The proposed European Union Green Claims Directive (“Green Claims Directive”) was tabled by the European Commission in March 2023. Both Directives aim to bridge the gap caused by the current varying standards for validating environmental claims and the lack of clear criteria to tackle their unreliability.