Commission to kill EU anti-greenwashing rules

BRUSSELS — The European Commission will scrap its proposed law to fight corporate greenwashing following a request from conservative lawmakers to kill the file.

“In the current context, indeed the Commission intends to withdraw the Green claims proposal,” Maciej Berestecki, a spokesperson for the Commission, told the press on Friday.

The news immediately sparked confusion among EU officials and lawmakers, who said the Commission had not confirmed if it would continue negotiations with the European Parliament and EU countries on the legislation — known in Brussels as trilogues.

The Green Claims Directive was proposed in March 2023 and aims to stop companies from misleading consumers with unfounded claims that their products and services are good for the planet.

On Wednesday, POLITICO reported that the center-right European People’s Party (EPP) had sent a letter to the environment Commissioner Jessika Roswall, asking the EU executive to withdraw its proposal, threatening not to support any deal coming out of the negotiations.

In a follow-up written statement published Friday afternoon, the Commission reiterated that its “intention [is] to withdraw the Green Claims legislative proposal” citing that ongoing talks with EU countries and MEPs  “go against the Commission’s simplification agenda”. 

That didn’t satisfy the co-legislators. “Until there is a clear decision from the Commission, the Presidency is ready to enter constructively into the trilogue and go ahead as planned,” said the Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU, currently leading the negotiations on behalf of EU countries. The next round of talks is scheduled for Monday. 

Lawmakers in the European Parliament also said the negotiations could still take place. “Let us be very clear: the EU Parliament has not requested to stop negotiations,” said Sandro Gozi, an MEP from the centrist Renew group, who co-leads the negotiations on behalf of the European Parliament.

His statement came in response to celebratory claims from the center-right European People’s Party (EPP), after the group formally requested a withdrawal to the environment Commissioner Jessika Roswall on Wednesday. 

"I welcome the fact that the Commission has listened to the EPP concerns and hope this opens the door to a more balanced and effective approach,” said Danuše Nerudová, one of the two lawmakers from the EPP leading the group’s work on the file. The proposal is “overly complex,” she added.

But Gozi said the decision on whether to continue with these negotiations or not “lies with the rapporteurs, not with the groups.” Rapporteurs are lawmakers charged with leading the Parliament’s work on particular legislation.

Too burdensome 

The Green Claims Directive is complementary to an older directive which protects consumers from greenwashing by preventing companies from making general claims like “eco-friendly” or “pro-planet” on their products. 

It is meant to instruct companies on what verified information to provide to back up the more explicit green claims they make, on the use of recycled materials in their products, for example. 

But the Commission argues that the file now risks creating more administrative burden for companies, especially smaller businesses. 

While the Commission’s original proposal exempted micro-enterprises from the scope of the rules, the executive says that “current discussions” reflect the possibility that 30 million micro-enterprises could end up having to comply. 

“Our objective has been to find an agreement on a legislative proposal that would reduce administrative burden and complexity for companies, and in particular smaller companies,” the Commission’s statement reads. 

“By siding with the far right to block the Green Claims Directive, the EPP Group undermines every company that invested in the green transition in good faith,” said Virginijus Sinkevičius, MEP from the Greens group and the former environment commissioner, in a social media post. Sinkevičius was in charge of the environment department of the Commission back when the Green Claims Directive was officially proposed by the Commission. 

It is very unusual for the Commission to withdraw a legislative proposal and only happens if the co-legislators are not able to find a consensus, or if the Commission believes that compromise doesn’t respect the original idea of the law.

The decision to withdraw the legislation would still need to be approved by the College of Commissioners.