Parliament and Council have reached a provisional agreement on new rules to ban misleading advertisements and provide consumers with better product information.
This agreement involves revisions to the existing EU catalogue of prohibited commercial practices, including the inclusion of various troublesome marketing tactics associated with greenwashing and the premature obsolescence of products. The primary objective of these new regulations is to safeguard consumers from misleading tactics and empower them to make more informed purchasing decisions.
What will be banned?
Negotiators from Parliament and Council agreed to proscribe the following:
- generic environmental claims, e.g. “environmentally friendly”, “natural”, “biodegradable”, “climate neutral” or “eco”, without proof of recognised excellent environmental performance relevant to the claim;
- commercial communications about a good with a feature that limits its durability if information is available on the feature and its effects on the durability;
- claims based on emissions offsetting schemes that a product has a neutral, reduced or positive impact on the environment;
- sustainability labels not based on approved certification schemes or established by public authorities;
- durability claims in terms of usage time or intensity under normal conditions, if not proven;
- prompting the consumer to replace consumables, such as printer ink cartridges, earlier than strictly necessary;
- presenting software updates as necessary even if they only enhance functionality features;
- presenting goods as repairable when they are not.
New harmonised label to highlight products with an extended guarantee
MEPs (Members of the European Parliament) effectively advocated for greater prominence of warranty information since numerous individuals are unaware that all products within the EU are entitled to a minimum two-year guarantee. Additionally, the Commission has been assigned the responsibility of creating a fresh label for manufacturers who wish to emphasize the quality of their products by extending the guarantee period at no extra cost.
To formally become law, the preliminary agreement must now receive approval from both the Parliament and the Council. The vote by MEPs is scheduled for November. Once the directive is enacted, member states will have a two-year period to integrate the new regulations into their legal framework.
After the deal, Parliament’s rapporteur Biljana Borzan (S&D, HR) said: “We have achieved an excellent deal for consumers. 60% of European consumers are not even aware a legal guarantee comes with all products. That changes today, with a reminder to be present in every shop in the EU and also in some cases on packaging. Also, a new extended guarantee label will show clearly which products last longer, so it will be easier to buy more durable products. We have also negotiated a strong stance on early obsolescence. We shouldn’t advertise products that fail too early. In addition to that, we are clearing the chaos of environmental claims, which will now have to be substantiated, and claims based on emissions offsetting will be banned.”