European Commission to Rescind Greenwashing Regulation Abolishment Measure
The European Commission has announced its intention to withdraw the Green Claims Directive, a proposal aimed at combating greenwashing and ensuring reliable environmental claims by companies, just days before trilogue negotiations were set to finalize the proposed rules.
The Green Claims Directive, introduced in March 2023, aimed to provide consumers with verifiable and trustworthy information about the environmental attributes of products and services. The proposal obligated companies to substantiate their voluntary environmental claims with independent verification and scientific evidence.
However, the Commission's decision to withdraw the Green Claims Directive follows two years of negotiations in the EU Parliament and Council over the proposal. The European People's Party (EPP), the largest political party in the EU Parliament, issued a letter requesting the Commission to reconsider and withdraw the Green Claims Directive, citing concerns over its complexity and potential disproportionate administrative burdens on microenterprises.
Studies have found that 40% of green claims by companies in the EU were completely unsubstantiated, and more than half were vague or misleading. The Green Claims Directive included minimum requirements for businesses to substantiate, communicate, and verify their green claims, as well as targeted the proliferation of private environmental labels. New private labels could only be allowed if developed at the EU level and approved if they demonstrated greater environmental ambition than existing label schemes.
The EPP argued that the new rules would be overly burdensome and complex, contrasting with ongoing efforts to simplify compliance burdens on companies. The Commission's proposal for the Green Claims Directive also included the requirement for independent verification and scientific evidence, which some critics claimed would be costly and time-consuming for businesses.
The Commission's decision to withdraw the Green Claims Directive was prompted by objections from lawmakers. The Polish Presidency suspended negotiations due to uncertainty, and Italy officially withdrew its support, further complicating the process. A spokesperson for the Commission stated that they were "not in a position to share more information for now" and that the Commission would keep the public informed on next steps.
The Commission maintains its commitment to addressing greenwashing, although the future of the directive remains uncertain. The withdrawal of the Green Claims Directive is scheduled just days before trilogue negotiations to finalize the proposed rules, leaving many questioning the direction of the Commission's efforts to combat greenwashing in the EU.
[1] European Commission (2023). Green Claims Directive Proposal. [2] European Parliament (2025). EPP Letter to the European Commission. [4] European Commission (2025). Statement on Green Claims Directive Withdrawal.
The European Commission's decision to withdraw the Green Claims Directive, a proposal aimed at providing transparency in environmental claims by companies within the science of environmental-science, has been met with concern, as studies have shown that a significant number of green claims by EU industries are unsubstantiated or misleading. The Commission's commitment to addressing greenwashing remains, but the future of the directive is uncertain, calling into question the direction of their efforts in combating this issue, particularly as it relates to finance and the industry's integrity with regard to climate-change concerns.
