Euro Coop has joined calls for members of the European Parliament and EU Ministers to adopt a robust Green Claims Directive, describing it as “essential” to combat greenwashing, rebuild consumer trust, and foster sustainable consumption across Europe.
The European co-op apex joined civil society organisations and businesses across Europe in signing a joint letter last week, which calls on the Council and Parliament to support a robust directive with a meaningful verification procedure and clear rules on environmental claims.
The European Commission first put forward its proposal for a directive on green claims in March 2023, adopting its position in June last year, which would require companies to substantiate the voluntary green claims they make in business-to-consumer commercial practices.
In 2020, the European Commission found that more than half of environmental claims made by businesses in the EU were vague, misleading or unfounded, and 40% were unsubstantiated.
The letter signed by Euro Coop says that market authorities cannot sufficiently enforce current legislation due to the high volume of claims being made, while businesses face “legal uncertainty and fragmentary enforcement”, which puts smaller businesses who cannot risk enforcement at a disadvantage.
Having a swift, manageable, and affordable verification procedure before claims are made would eliminate greenwashing from the start and support businesses in managing legal risks from greenwashing, the letter adds.
As well as a verification process, the letter calls for clearer rules on traders making environmental claims regarding ‘offsetting’ of environmental impacts.
“The EU’s Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive, national regulators, and Courts have all recognised that ‘offsetting’ is a highly flawed concept that does not align with scientific evidence”, states the letter, suggesting that instead, the Directive should enable companies to communicate about their contribution to environmental projects outside of their value chain, with no notion of compensation.
Commenting on the letter, Euro Coop said:
“These measures are critical to providing consumers with accurate information while supporting genuinely sustainable businesses. By ensuring that environmental claims are credible and verifiable, the directive will advance the goals of the European Green Deal and promote sustainable consumption across the EU.”
In the EU’s agriculture sector, Copa and Cogeca, the representative bodies for European farmers and their co-ops, announced in December an upgraded Code of Good Labelling Practices for compound feed.
Copa and Cogeca say the updated code was “inspired by the proposal for the Green Claims Directive” and includes detailed guidelines for communicating the environmental performance of animal feed to farmers, which, they say, addresses key impact areas such as climate change, eutrophication, and livestock emissions abatement techniques.
The proposed Green Claims Directive will now be subject to a round of interinstitutional negotiations.
This article was updated on 6 February
