Companies subject to the European Union’s new marketing claims ban now have a clearer definition of greenwashing.
The European Parliament’s joint Internal Market and Environment committees have adopted their position on rules to comply with the EU ban on greenwashing. This is called the green claims directive, and it complements the already approved ban on greenwashing by clarifying the kind of information companies have to provide to justify their environmental marketing claims.
MEPs agreed with the Commission that companies must submit environmental marketing claims for verification before using them. These claims will then be assessed by accredited verifiers within 30 days.
Companies who break the rules may face exclusion from procurements, loss of revenue, and a fine of at least 4% of their annual turnover. The Commission has been recommended to draw up a list of less complex claims and products that could benefit from faster or simpler verification, as well as decide whether green claims about products containing hazardous substances should remain possible.
Micro enterprises will likely be excluded from the new obligations, while SMEs will have an extra year before applying the rules.
Carbon offsetting – what can be claimed?
The European Parliament further confirmed the recent EU ban on green claims based solely on carbon offsetting schemes. However, it specified that companies could still mention offsetting schemes if they have already reduced their emissions as much as possible, and use these schemes for residual emissions only. The carbon credits of the schemes must be certified under the Carbon Removals Certification Framework.
Special rules also apply to comparative claims, for instance, ads comparing two different goods, including if the two products are made by the same producer. Claims that products have been improved cannot be based on data more than five years old.
The solution proposed by the committees was called “balanced” by the Internal Market Committee’s Andrus Ansip. He added that it “brings more clarity to consumers and at the same time is, in many cases, less burdensome for businesses than the solution originally proposed by the Commission.”
According to Cyrus Engerer, the European Parliament’s rapporteur for the Environment Committee, the agreement on this text ends the proliferation of deceitful green claims which have tricked consumers for far too long, and it ensures that businesses have the right tools to embrace genuine sustainability practices. The draft report will be put to a vote at an upcoming plenary session and will constitute Parliament’s position at first reading, which is expected to be in March 2024.
