The possible end of the Green Claims Directive: Is it all Greenwashing now?

News broke that the EU may stop its Green Claims Directive. Some have already reported its withdrawal, which is - as of now - premature. Here's what you should know about recent developments.

Has the Draft Green Claims Directive been withdrawn?

No, not yet. According to recent rumors, the Draft Green Claims Directive (GCD) may be withdrawn, following a lack of support from the European Commission and European People’s Party (EPP). However, these reports may have been premature - there seems to be political fallout about the proposal to also cover small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) under the Green Claims Directive, which would not be supported by the EPP. This is an ongoing development, and as of now, no final decision has been made.

What would the effects be of abandoning the Green Claims Directive?

Despite some initial comments, the end of the GCD will not lead to greenwashing and will also not lead to less scrutiny or enforcement. To the contrary, enforcement against alleged greenwashing is as strong as ever and in many EU member states it can be considered the enforcement focus. Next to national enforcement actions (most notably in Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Austria and Italy), there is also ongoing international enforcement against alleged greenwashing in the food & beverage industry and the aviation industry. 

Which laws would address environmental advertising instead?

The EU has already adopted the Empowering Consumers Directive (ECD), which - potentially due to its rather ambiguous name - is often overlooked when it comes to environmental advertising, despite it containing major restrictions. Additionally, the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (UCPD) already prohibits misleading advertising, which is the basis of most ongoing enforcement actions. Despite its name, the ECD will bring significant changes to environmental advertising, such as:

• A ban of so-called generic environmental claims (sustainable, responsible, etc.), unless certain requirements are met;
• New and strict rules on sustainability labels, which completely prohibit companies from creating their own labels;
• Monitoring and publication requirements for future environmental performance claims ("We will only use renewable electricity by 2030"); and
• A ban on using Greenhouse Gas Emission (GHG) offsets to claim climate neutrality or reduced impact for goods and services.

More details on the ECD can be found here.

What are the key elements of the Green Claims Directive, and why is it criticised?

Most notably, the GCD would bring:

1. A common standard for the substantiation of claims;
2. Mandatory publication of the substantiation; and
3. A pre-verification requirement for the majority of marketing claims.

The pre-verification requirement has sparked most criticism. Essentially, any claim would have to be pre-verified by independent and official verifiers before it can be published, which will lead to significant costs and delays. It is expected that such verification will take between 30-90 days, which does not align with current marketing speeds. Small and medium companies may also struggle to justify the costs of getting the claims verified. Whilst a few supporters of the GCD believe that such a pre-verification is necessary to combat greenwashing, it is in the end a new layer of bureaucracy, which may instead lead to ‘greenhushing’: companies may stop their voluntary ESG efforts if it is too difficult to communicate them. Many supporters of the pre-verification also ignore that the ongoing enforcement actions have already stopped various greenwashing practices and that future enforcement will continue to combat greenwashing. In practice, there is no “gap” in enforcement for which the pre-verification is required or beneficial.

What should companies be doing?

We recommend monitoring the developments of the GCD and continuing to prepare for compliance with the ECD by 27 September 2026 - the date on which it must be applied throughout the EU. Even if the GCD will be withdrawn, it will not change the ECD and it will not stop ongoing enforcement actions.