The European Commission plans to scrap its draft law on combating corporate greenwashing due to opposition from the European People’s Party (EPP), a European political party with Christian democratic, liberal-conservative, and conservative member parties.
Commission spokesman Maciej Berestecki recently made the confirmation of the proposal on green claims without disclosing details.
In March 2023, the Green Claims Directive was meant to prevent businesses from deceiving consumers with unsubstantiated claims that their products and services are environmentally friendly. It also sought to curb the overuse of green labels.
The ruling means the European Union (EU) won’t require companies to supply checked information to support their green claims.
But in negotiations with member states and the European Parliament, EPP voiced its wish to scrap the whole directive.
In a letter to EU environment commissioner Jessika Roswall, EPP contended that current directives on unfair consumer practices already touch on these topics, and that this EU anti-greenwashing law would lead to overly complicated and expensive processes for companies.
The EU anti-greenwashing law was particularly concerned about the proposal requiring independent third-party verification of environmental claims and labels before publication, according to European media reports.
“It is unacceptable that the European People’s Party, in tandem with the far-right, is trying to scupper the greenwashing directive, which is a key piece of legislation designed to protect European citizens from corporate environmental fraud,” Sandro Gozi, secretary general of the European Democratic Party, member of European Parliament for Renew Europe and rapporteur for the ‘green claims’ directive, said.
He insisted that the Commission must secure the interests of the Union and not be the ‘political executor’ for the EPP and the European far right.
“It would be a betrayal of the European mandate and bend the Commission to partisan logic, which would undermine its legitimacy and the trust of citizens,” he noted, adding that he expects environment commissioner Jessika Roswall to clarify the reasons for this ‘shameful’ decision.
