Sustainability Rulebook: The Green Claims Directive
What is the Green Claims Directive?
The European Commission’s proposal for a Directive on Green Claims aims to prevent companies from misleading consumers with false environmental claims. The proposal sets out minimum standards for how companies should prove and communicate their environmental claims, making these green claims reliable, comparable and verifiable across the EU. The text has been adopted in the European Parliament but given that the European Parliament's mandate ends in June 2024, the trilogues and finalisation of the Directive will be postponed to the next mandate.
This Directive aims to complement and further operationalise the Directive to empower consumers for the Green transition, which updates the EU consumer rules and bans greenwashing. The objective of these proposals is for consumers to be well informed regarding the environmental claims on the products they buy, protecting them against unfair commercial practices and enabling them to integrate environmental considerations more often in their purchasing decisions.
The Green Claims Directive is part of the European Green Deal – a set of policy initiatives by the European Commission with the overarching aim of making the European Union's climate, energy, transport and taxation policies fit for reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels, and climate-neutral by 2050. Together with existing regulations and other regulatory initiatives, such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) or the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), the proposal aims to contribute to creating a circular and green EU economy, by providing transparent environmental information.
To whom does it apply?
The Directive will apply to traders, which include companies and businesses of all sectors of activity, that in their business-to-consumer commercial practices, including advertising, make environmental claims or use environmental labels referring to their performance, services or products. The draft Green Claims Directive does not impose however obligations on the publishers of advertisements to substantiate or verify any claim made by traders in their commercial communications.
Which obligations will apply to whom?
The proposal will require traders to substantiate voluntary environmental claims they make to consumers in written form or orally, including through audiovisual media or contained in an environmental label. The assessment underpinning their claims will have to rely on sound scientific evidence and state-of-the-art technical knowledge, considering the full significance of environmental impacts and aspects, as well as the performance across a product's life cycle, and the transparent reporting of greenhouse gas emissions. In case of comparative claims, the type of information and data used for the assessment must be the same between the products or traders being compared. The Green Claims Directive will also introduce rules on environmental labelling schemes ensuring they are transparent and reliable.
The information on the product or trader subject to the claim and on the substantiation will have to be available together with the claim in a physical form or in the form of a web link, QR code or equivalent, and should include the certificate of conformity issued by the verifying authority.
How will the new rules be verified?
An officially accredited authority will be responsible for carrying out an ex-ante verification of the environmental claims submitted by the trader. This way any green claim to which the consumer will be exposed has been verified and is recognised across the EU by a certificate of conformity. The applicable penalties and measures in case of non-compliance include fines, as well as the temporary exclusion from public procurement procedures and from access to public funds.
How would it affect Public service media?
The Directive may affect public service media (PSM) in two ways: either when a PSM makes voluntary environmental claims itself, or when a trader makes such claims in an advertisement published by the PSM. When broadcasters make green claims about their own activities or products, they will have to substantiate and communicate them in accordance with the requirements of the Directive. This will include submitting the claim to the verifying authority, and making relevant information related to the substantiation of the claim and the certificate of conformity available to the public.
The proposal for a Green Claims Directive will not impose obligations on publishers of advertisements. Thus, PSM would not be obliged to verify the environmental claims that businesses make in their advertisements. This is in line with the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD) which provides certain rules concerning the content, frequency and placement of advertisements included in audiovisual media services. The AVMSD does not regulate the relationship between advertisers and media service providers, neither does it regulate the trustworthiness or reliability of claims made in advertisements. According to the draft Green Claims Directive, the responsibility for the green claims will lie with the companies themselves, who must voluntarily submit their environmental claims to the verifying authority to obtain a certificate of conformity, before making them public, and communicate them appropriately, being accountable and subject to penalties in the event of non-compliance.
Still, PSM should be mindful that publishing misleading green claims can harm their image and reputation. It would be appropriate to consider checking whether traders have substantiated their environmental claims in accordance with the rules set out in the Directive and if that information is publicly available. In the future, PSM can also consider promoting the enforcement of the Green Claims Directive through the contracts they sign with advertisers recalling the traders’ obligations under the Green Claims Directive.
Contact Details
Sofia Nobre
EU Policy Adviser
Legal & Policy
nobre@ebu.ch
Sophia Wistehube
Legal Counsel
Legal & Policy
wistehube@ebu.ch
