Negotiations between the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament on the Green Claims Directive (see EUROPE 13628/3) have not yet been concluded, although pressure for them to be further simplified is already mounting.
According to sources close to the matter and the media outlet Carbon Pulse, the European People’s Party is calling for the date of the third trilogue, which is still scheduled for 10 June, to be postponed in order to better analyse the current text. It remains to be seen “whether more time is needed for the ongoing analysis”, said one of our sources in summing up the current situation.
The EPP’s request is shared by 21 German industry lobbies, who pointed out in a letter sent to their government on 19 May that “the EPP’s shadow rapporteurs have (...) asked the lead rapporteurs in writing to ask the European Commission to carry out a full and independent impact assessment of the planned due diligence procedures”.
The lobbies are arguing that the requirement for prior external verification of all claims is an “infringement of companies’ freedom of communication”. In their view, the directive “risks introducing an excessive administrative burden, with considerable consequences for businesses and innovation”.
They are calling for negotiations to be suspended “until an in-depth impact assessment has been carried out”. In their view, the Unfair Trading Practices Directive makes the directive on green claims “superfluous”.
See the letter: https://aeur.eu/f/h3y (Original version in French by Florent Servia)