The Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament strongly condemn today’s declaration by the Commission's spokesperson, announcing its intention to withdraw the Green Claims Directive – just days before a key inter-institutional agreement is due to be concluded. The move is a deeply troubling affront to the democratic process and undermines crucial efforts to combat greenwashing in the European Union.
The Green Claims Directive is a cornerstone of the EU’s strategy to ensure that consumers receive accurate, verifiable, and science-based environmental information. It aims to put an end to misleading pseudo-green marketing practices that erode trust and slow down the green transition. After extensive negotiations and a clear mandate from the European Parliament, the directive is set for an inter-institutional breakthrough on Monday.
Despite the Commission’s claims, a strong cross-party alliance in the Parliament supports an ambitious outcome on this file.
Tiemo Wölken, co-rapporteur of the Green Claims Directive and S&D spokesperson for the European Parliament’s committee on the environment, climate and food safety, said:
"This directive is essential to fight greenwashing. Instead of empowering citizens and protecting the environment, the Commission is doing the bidding of conservative and right wing extremist forces trying to defend dubious business practices and hindering transparency. We expect President von der Leyen and Commissioner Roswall to respect the Parliament’s role and to support the ongoing negotiations as an honest broker, in accordance with the Commission's institutional role as per the treaties. In particular, it is troubling that the Commission seems to give the treatment of micro-companies as a pretext for its decision, given that final negotiations on this issue haven't even started yet."
Laura Ballarin, S&D shadow rapporteur and spokesperson for the European Parliament’s committee on the internal market and consumer protection, said:
"It is outrageous that the Commission is considering withdrawing such an important file at the eleventh hour, especially when the Parliament has shown unity. This shows utter disregard for the co-legislators' role and a dangerous precedent of bowing to pressure at the expense of consumers and climate action.
"It is well-known that very often European consumers are faced with a flood of unreliable green claims such as 'eco-friendly', 'green', 'environmentally sustainable'. With this announcement, the Commission is not only leaving our consumers at the mercy of corporate greenwashing, but is also clearly ignoring them, despite knowing that a great part of EU consumers – over 56% – openly consider the environment when purchasing goods and services."
