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EU retreats from proposed Green Claims Directive

Jul 1, 2025 European Union

The European Commission has announced its intention to withdraw the EU Green Claims Directive, just days before the final negotiations between the European Parliament and the Council were set to begin

The decision to withdraw appears to have been driven by political pressure. In a letter dated the 18^th of June 2025 to Jessika Roswall, the Commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy, the European People’s Party raised concerns about the complexity of the directive and the administrative burden it would impose on companies.

Originally introduced in March 2023 as part of the European Green Deal, the Green Claims Directive aimed to accelerate the green transition by ensuring that companies’ environmental claims were documented, verified, and credible across the EU, thus enabling consumers to make better-informed purchasing decisions.

Following the European Parliament’s adoption of its position on the 12^th of March 2024 and the Council’s adoption of its position on the 17^th of June 2024, trilogue negotiations on the Directive began on the 28^th of January 2025. However, shortly before a pivotal meeting scheduled for the 23^rdof June 2025, the Council cancelled the session in response to the European Commission’s decision to withdraw the proposal.

The European Commission has not yet issued a formal justification for the withdrawal. Therefore, companies will not yet be subject to the anticipated increase in compliance burdens under the Green Claims Directive. However, this does not change the current consumer protection framework against greenwashing, including the Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive (Green Transition Directive).

This directive will come into effect on the 27^th of September 2026 and will reinforce the anti-greenwashing consumer protection framework under the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (UCPD). It will also introduce specific prohibitions regarding environmental claims that are not substantiated by evidence.

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