The new EU regulations against greenwashing
The European Union is introducing stricter regulations to counteract greenwashing and ensure transparent communication on environmental and social issues through advertising campaigns, social media, websites, press releases, promotional materials, product labelling and sustainability reports, both in textual and visual content.
The fight against greenwashing is in the interest of consumers but also of companies that, even if virtuous, may be negatively impacted by the general decline in mistrust towards them. According to the European Commission, in fact, 40% of companies’ environmental claims are not scientifically proven and 53% provide vague, misleading or unfounded information.
The main European regulatory initiatives in this context are:
- Directive 2024/825/EU – Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition, in forcesince the 26th of March 2024. Member States must transpose it by the 27th of March 2026 and apply it from the 27th of September 2026.
- Proposal for a Green Claims Directive (Substantiation and communication of explicit environmental claims), presented by the European Commission in March 2023 and approved at first reading by the European Parliament on the 12th of March 2024. The text is currently awaiting final approval by the EU Council. Again, once it enters into force, Member States will have two years to implement it at national level.
These directives are part of the European policies for climate neutrality and ecological transition, in line with the European Green Deal.
The Empowering Consumers Directive
The Empowering Consumers Directive amends Directives 2005/29/EC (Unfair Commercial Practices) and 2011/83/EU (Consumer Rights), introducing stricter measures to combat greenwashing and promote more informed consumer choices. The main changes include the ban on the use of generic and misleading environmental claims and non-certified sustainability labels.
An “environmental claim” (“green claim”) is any marketing communication (including logos, symbols and images) that suggests or evokes a positive or reduced environmental impact of a product or service.
This means, for example, that it will no longer be possible to use environmental claims such as “environmentally friendly”, “eco”, “green”, “energy efficient”, “biodegradable”, unless they are substantiated and supported by scientific, concrete and verifiable evidence.
For climate claims such as “Net 0”, “carbon neutral” or “zero climate impact”, there is a further restriction: they may not be based solely on offsetting CO₂ emissions outside the value chain of the product or service. Claims will have to reflect the actual lifecycle impact of the product, without confusing direct emission reduction with carbon offsetting.
The Green Claims Directive
The Green Claims Directive, still in the approval process, complements the Empowering Consumers Directive and applies to explicit green claims, i.e. explicit environmental self-declarations such as “T-shirt made from recycled plastic bottles”, “delivery with CO₂ offset”, “30% recycled plastic packaging”, “ocean-friendly sunscreen”.
This directive will set standards for the verification, certification and reporting of such self-declarations. Specifically:
- Obligation of independent verification: every environmental statement must be supported by validated and third-party certified scientific data before its dissemination.
- Greater transparency: information supporting green claims should be accessible to consumers, clearly worded and not misleading.
Once transposed, these directives will strengthen the Italian regulatory framework.
However, greenwashing already falls under misleading commercial practices, which are prosecuted by the Consumer Code and the Code of Advertising Self-Discipline.
