EU may revoke “greenwashing” directive, NGOs call for consumer protection

The European Commission (EC) has announced plans to withdraw the European Green Claims Directive to reduce the administrative burden of providing on-pack consumer information for micro businesses. The decree was proposed in 2023 to combat greenwashing by ensuring that environmental claims on packaging are clear, accurate, evidence-based, and verifiable.

The directive was planned to be implemented in late 2025 or early 2026 after the European Parliament approved it in March 2024.

Maciej Berestecki, EC spokesperson for the Environment, says: “In the current context, indeed, the EC intends to withdraw the Green Claims proposal.”

Responding to Packaging Insights’ question about how this move might impact consumer trust in sustainability labels in the packaging sector, Berestecki refers to EC chief spokesperson Paula Pinho’s statement: “The EC remains fully committed to fighting greenwashing and ensuring that consumers are correctly informed.”

Pinho asserts that one of the EC’s priorities is to reduce the administrative burden on small companies and, in particular, on micro enterprises. “This is an essential part of our simplification agenda.”

She says that co-legislators on the Green Claims Directive have suggested an amendment to the original proposal “which clearly goes against” the EC’s administrative simplification agenda. The amendment could have affected around 30 million EU micro enterprises, according to Pinho.

“If the amendment to the EC’s proposal concerning micro enterprises is maintained, then indeed, as we said last Friday, we would withdraw the Green Claims legislative proposal. We will see and wait for the next interinstitutional discussion on the Green Claims Directive.” 

Civil society reacts

The EU-based Environmental Coalition on Standards (ECOS) tells Packaging Insights that “The directive has not yet been withdrawn. It is still possible that a final trilogue could take place and a deal reached.”

The EC is considering withdrawing from the Green Claims Directive following an amendment by co-legislators.Another source working closely together with the EU tells us, “there is a lot of uncertainty about this in Brussels. The EC has not officially withdrawn the proposal, but we don’t know what will happen next. The Danish Presidency of the EU (from July 1) will likely take this up again, but this is yet to be confirmed.”

Agustín Reyna, BEUC director general, comments: “Consumer organizations have long called for new rules to tackle greenwashing, so postponing negotiations on the Green Claims Directive is worrying.”

Policymakers must respect legislative process

BEUC research shows that consumers are not equipped to identify greenwashing, so the EU-wide umbrella organization says it should not be up to them to decipher what is true or false on the market. 

“Consumers expect policymakers to make sure that the claims and labels they see in shops and online are trustworthy. Now is the time for the EU to act to ensure both consumer confidence in the market and reward those businesses that are genuinely investing in sustainable products and services in the face of unfair competition from unscrupulous traders.”

On behalf of ECOS, Client Earth, Carbon Market Watch, and the EEB, Margaux Le Gallou, senior programme manager at ECOS, comments: “The Green Claims Directive should provide clarity for consumers and companies, but confusion is what the EC and some MEPs have served up instead.”

Le Gallou calls on policymakers to “respect the legislative process, work with negotiators to find a solution, and unblock this crucial law.”

“Every day without this directive inflicts more harm on EU citizens, the environment, and the single market — with consumers and businesses adrift in a sea of greenwashing as policymakers argue about the lifeboat.”