A. EmpCo-bans on Green Claims from 29.09.2026
As a reminder, the EmpCo Directive contains the following relevant prohibitions regarding green claims:
- Making an environmental claim regarding future environmental performance without clear, objective and verifiable commitments, without a corresponding implementation plan and without verification by an external expert.
- Displaying a sustainability label that is not based on a certification scheme or has not been established by public authorities. The certification scheme required in this regard is also defined in detail; in particular, it requires compliance with the requirements to be monitored by an independent third party.
- Making a general environmental claim where the trader cannot provide evidence of the recognised excellent environmental performance to which the claim relates. This could become the most significant offence in practice.
- Making an environmental claim about the product as a whole or the business’s activities as a whole, when it actually relates only to a specific aspect.
- Making a claim justified by the offsetting of greenhouse gas emissions, according to which a product has a neutral, reduced or positive impact on the environment in terms of greenhouse gas emissions.
The implementation of these new requirements is posing considerable problems for retailers across Europe. This is because, in many cases, goods have already been produced and are already in the supply chain, yet do not yet meet the new requirements. This is likely to be the case in particular with regard to the use of sustainability labels that do not comply with EmpCo and the use of general environmental claims. This is forcing retailers to take costly measures, such as covering advertising claims that are no longer permitted with stickers or by repackaging products. Where such measures are not economically viable, the new requirements will mean that otherwise compliant new goods will, in many cases, have to be scrapped. It is obvious that this is not in line with the aim of the European Green Deal and the ‘green transition’ invoked in the very title of the EmpCo Directive.
B. New paper by the CPC Netzwerks
On 30 June 2026, the Commission published guidance, entitled “Common Understanding on old stock situations under Directive (EU) 2024/825 on Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition”, from the Consumer Protection Cooperation Network to address this issue.
The document appears to refer to the bans on numerous green claims contained in the EmpCo Directive. Whilst the new prohibitions, which come into force on the cut-off date of 27 September 2026, remain in place, the national authorities have agreed on six so-called Principles to ensure a measured and proportionate enforcement of the new regulation. These are as follows:
- The new rules will also apply to ‘old stock’ products from the effective date.
- Enforcement by the competent authorities is to follow a phased approach. During the (unspecified) transitional period, particular attention should be paid to the following aspects: claims published online, as these can be amended more easily; practices that entail the greatest disadvantages for consumers; claims not found on packaging or in marketing materials; products with a shorter shelf life; and products that do not pose any particular problems regarding their transition.
- Furthermore, when enforcing the new legislation, national authorities should take account of practical constraints specific to each case. The paper provides the following examples: packaging cycles, stock levels, previous production runs or orders, dependencies within the supply chain, a product’s (long) shelf life, and the technical feasibility and proportionality of corrective measures.
- National authorities should require businesses to take reasonable and proportionate measures to implement the new requirements. The following measures are specifically mentioned here: removal or correction of information provided online, updating of promotional materials, adaptation of future packaging and new orders, use of stickers, removal of labels or similar corrective measures, insofar as this is appropriate and feasible, displaying corrective notices at the point of sale, coordinating with suppliers and other stakeholders in the supply chain, and keeping records of the steps taken and the timing of those steps, including internal compliance policies, substantiation work or other compliance initiatives.
- Disproportionate and unreasonable measures should be avoided. This should include, in particular, orders to destruct or recall affected products.
- In general, national authorities should adopt a tailored enforcement approach, taking into account genuine and specific challenges arising from the transition. The principle is: a compliance-oriented approach takes precedence over a sanctions-oriented approach
Will this new paper now resolve the problems faced by numerous companies in implementing the EmpCo guidelines on green claims? Unfortunately, this is highly doubtful, particularly with regard to Germany.
Firstly, the new legislation will come into force on 27 September 2026. It therefore remains to be seen what action a national authority will take in a specific future case.
Above all, however, the guidance document is aimed solely at national authorities from the outset. In Germany, however, the new requirements are implemented through amendments to its national competition law in the UWG (in particular in what is known as the ‘blacklist’ within that Act). Consequently, the enforcement of the new regulations on green claims lies primarily with competitors and with the associations and organisations entitled to bring claims under Section 8(3) of the UWG. It remains to be seen whether, for example, consumer protection organisations will take the new guidance to heart when enforcing claims under competition law (which is to be hoped). Unfortunately, however, this is unlikely to be the case, at least as far as competitors are concerned. A competitor could therefore, after the cut-off date, send a warning letter under the new law then in force and initiate legal proceedings.
It therefore remains the case that the companies concerned should do everything in their power to comply with the new legal requirements for green claims from the cut-off date of 27 September 2026 onwards, in order to avoid warning letters under competition law and legal proceedings. We would be more than happy to assist you with this.
Do you have any questions about this news item, or would you like to discuss it with the author? Please feel free to contact: Dr. Florian Niermeier
