Environmental claims, carbon neutral and eco labels

• Directive (EU) 2024/825 — empowering consumers for the green transition
• Directive 2005/29/EC on unfair commercial practices
• Regulation (EU) 2024/3110 and product-specific rules
• Proposed Green Claims Directive

Who has to appoint one

Any business making environmental claims about products sold in the EU. The empowering consumers Directive prohibits generic environmental claims without demonstrated excellent performance, and bans claims that a product is carbon neutral based on offsetting.

Thresholds and exemptions

None. The prohibitions apply to any commercial communication, including packaging, listings and social media.

What must appear on the label

Claims must be specific and substantiated. Sustainability labels must be based on a certification scheme or established by public authorities. Durability and repairability information must be given where the trader claims it.

Marketplace fields

Consumer authorities coordinate sweeps on greenwashing through the CPC network, and national courts have ordered corrections and compensation. Marketplaces remove unsupported claims when notified.

Documentation you must hold

Substantiation for every claim, held before the claim is made, including life cycle assessment where the claim concerns overall environmental impact, third-party verification where the scheme requires it, and the basis for any comparison made.

Standards and testing

Depends on the claim: biodegradability testing to a recognised standard, recyclability assessment against actual collection and sorting infrastructure, and life cycle assessment following a recognised method.

Language requirements

Claims and their substantiation summary in the language of each market.

When it applies

From 27 September 2026, when the empowering consumers Directive applies in national law.

How long records are kept

Substantiation for as long as the claim is used and afterwards for the limitation period of any action.

What happens if you do not comply

Penalties up to 4% of annual turnover in the member states concerned for widespread infringements, plus injunctions and corrective advertising. Several national authorities have already acted on carbon neutrality claims under existing law.

Who enforces it

Consumer protection authorities through the CPC network and national courts.

Where the boundary lies

Offsetting-based carbon neutral claims are prohibited from September 2026, which invalidates a large share of current marketing. Compostable and biodegradable claims must reflect real end-of-life conditions, not laboratory ones.

Questions we are asked

Can we say our product is carbon neutral?

Not on the basis of offsetting, once the empowering consumers Directive applies. Claims about the product's own footprint remain possible if substantiated.

Is recyclable a safe claim?

Only where the product is actually collected and recycled in the market concerned. Theoretical recyclability without infrastructure is misleading.