Meeting in Brussels on Wednesday 3 May, the Member States' ambassadors to the EU (Coreper) came to an agreement on the EU Council’s position for negotiating with the European Parliament on the proposed March 2022 directive that will empower consumers to take action for the green transition.
This future directive will amend EU consumer protection legislation to give consumers a right to information on the lifetime and reparability of products (amendment of Directive 2005/29/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).
“The green transition is a collective effort, and the role of consumers’ behaviour will be paramount. We want to be sure that consumers are equipped to play that role with reliable information, protection against misleading advertisement, and easier ways to recycle or repair”, commented Swedish Minister for Public Administration Erik Slottner.
Unfair business practices. The EU Council is in favour of banning generic environmental claims such as ‘environmentally friendly’, ‘green’ or ‘climate neutral’. Producers would no longer be allowed to advertise their products, processes or businesses using such general terms if they are not able to substantiate such claims through a publicly available certification system.
It would also be considered an unfair practice (blacklisted under Directive 2005/29/EC) should traders fail to inform consumers when goods have a limited lifetime or include a feature that has been introduced to limit its durability. Consumers should also be warned if the good is designed not to be compatible with consumables, spare parts or accessories that are supplied by third party manufacturers. It would also be prohibited to present goods as allowing repair when they are not (see EUROPE 13154/2).
Sustainability labels. In order to enable a better comparison of products and reduce confusion amongst consumers, only sustainability labels that are based on official certification schemes, registered as certification marks, or established by public authorities would be allowed in the future (see EUROPE 13122/17).
Right to information. The EU Council proposes the creation of a harmonised graphic format to clearly inform consumers about guarantees of commercial sustainability in relation to specific goods. This would provide consumers with a single visual logo that could be used to identify, within the internal market, any goods that are covered by these guarantees.
Transposition of the Directive. The EU Council is extending the deadline for transposing the directive into national law from 18 to 24 months in order to give Member States the time to adapt to this future legislation.
The European Parliament is expected to adopt the more ambitious report by Biljana Borzan (S&D, Croatian) (see EUROPE 13164/21, 13151/10) in May without amendments. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)