On March 30th, 2022, the European Commission presented a proposal for a directive to amend two important directives that safeguard the interests of consumers in the European Union ("EU"): Directive 2005/29/EC on unfair commercial practices and Directive 2011/83/EU on consumer rights.
This proposal was finally approved by the European Parliament on January 17th and is now awaiting final approval from the Council, after which it will be officially published in the Official Journal. Member states will then have 24 months to transpose it into national law.
Looking now at its content, the proposal aims to promote a more sustainable European economy by encouraging informed purchasing decisions by consumers. To achieve this goal, the directive aims to address unfair commercial practices that may mislead consumers into making sustainable choices and to ensure a more effective and coherent application of EU rules relating to consumer protection.
More specifically, the proposal aims to:
a) Add some problematic marketing habits related to greenwashing to the EU list of prohibited commercial practices, in order to combat practices of early product obsolescence and greenwashing (misleading environmental claims);
b) Make product labelling clearer and more reliable by banning the use of general environmental claims such as "environmentally friendly", "natural", "biodegradable", "carbon neutral" or "eco" without proof; from now on, only sustainability labels based on official certification schemes or established by public authorities will be allowed in the EU;
c) Prohibit claims that a product has a neutral, reduced or positive impact on the environment due to emission compensation systems;
d) Ensure that information on the durability guarantee has to be more visible and a new harmonized label will be created to give more prominence to products with an extended guarantee period;
e) Prohibiting unfounded claims about durability, calls to replace consumables earlier than strictly necessary and presenting products as repairable when they are not;
f) Ensure that a professional can only make an environmental claim related to future environmental performance if it implies clear commitments;
g) Prohibit the display of a sustainability label that is not based on a certification system or that is not established by public authorities.
For more information, see the proposal here.
