MEPs in the Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) significantly tightened the European Commission’s proposal by adopting, on Tuesday 28 March (39 votes for, one against and one abstention), a report by Biljana Borzan (S&D, Croatian) on what needs to be done to empower consumers to make informed choices in the green transition.
This March 2022 proposal for a directive aims to amend EU legislation to give consumers a right to information on the lifetime and reparability of products (amendment of Directive 2011/83/EU ‘Consumer Rights’) and to better protect them against non-credible environmental claims (greenwashing) and early product obsolescence (amendment of Directive 2005/29/EC ‘Unfair Commercial Practices’ - see EUROPE 12922/4, 13122/17).
MEPs welcome this as a timely way of regulating the market to ensure that sustainability information is truthful and easily accessible, but they strengthen the labelling provisions. “With this proposal, we enable citizens to choose products that are more durable, repairable and sustainable”, according to Borzan.
MEPs want to ban generic environmental claims such as ‘environmentally friendly’, ‘natural’, ‘biodegradable’, ‘climate neutral’ or ‘eco’. Claims based solely on carbon offsetting schemes would also be prohibited, as would claims for the whole product if they are only valid for part of it, such as a product claiming to be ‘made from recycled materials’ if only the packaging contains recycled materials.
Information on reparability and combating early obsolescence
MEPs want to see a ban on introducing features and not solving design problems that lead to early product failure. Misleading and overly optimistic claims about the longevity of a product and encouraging consumers to replace consumables such as ink cartridges earlier than necessary would also be prohibited.
In addition, all producers would be required to market only products designed to be compatible with consumables, spare parts or accessories also supplied by other producers.
If a product is not repairable, purchasers should be informed of this prior to purchase as well as any other repair restrictions. Information should be provided on the expected duration of availability of spare parts and software updates and whether repairs by independent professionals are allowed.
Only sustainability labels based on official certification schemes or established by public authorities would be allowed. Product comparison tools should disclose the method of comparison chosen, the products examined and their suppliers and keep this information up to date.
MEPs also call for a product guarantee label that would indicate the duration of the legal guarantee and any voluntary extension of the guarantee by the producer.
To see the report: https://aeur.eu/f/62r (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)