The legislative body of the European Union (EU) voted in favour of the new directive today (12 March), with 467 votes for and 65 against.
It means environmental marketing claims such as “biodegradable”, “less polluting” and “water saving” will have to be verified based on evidence submitted by businesses.
The date of the implementation of green claims directive, alongside any potential amends, will be announced later this year following the European Parliament elections in June 2024.
Firms that do not comply with the directive will risk a fine of at least 4% of their annual turnover, or have their revenues confiscated, with details on the severity of the penalties likely to be announced later this year.
Although most claims will be assessed within 30 days, the parliament is working on introducing faster verification for some “simpler and common types of claims”.
Green claims based solely on carbon offsetting schemes, such as “climate neutral” or “climate positive”, will be banned unless a business is able to prove that it had already reduced its carbon emissions “as much as possible” and carbon offsetting is limited to residual emissions.
The European Parliament’s Environment Committee rapporteur Cyrus Engerer said: “It is time to put an end to greenwashing.
“Our position ends the proliferation of misleading green claims that have deceived consumers for far too long. We will ensure businesses have the right tools to embrace genuine sustainability practices.”
European Parliament’s Internal Market Committee rapporteur Andrus Ansip said: “Studies show that over 50% of environmental claims are vague, misleading or unfounded.
“We cannot speak about happy consumers if every other green claim is false. We cannot talk about a level playing field for our entrepreneurs while some traders are cheating.”